By Pepper Fisher
OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK – Hunter Fraser, the 44-year-old Stanford University professor who entered Olympic National Park on Monday, June 5, was declared missing two days later, and then found his own way out on June 10 following a massive search, has issued a statement on what happened while he was missing
The Daily Mail reports that Fraser, who was scheduled to appear in court on a felony domestic violence charge while he was missing, told them in a written statement that he set out hiking “with every intention of attending a court hearing in California on June 9,” which he said was postponed again “by the judge at the request of the accuser.” He continues to deny any wrongdoing.
Fraser says he slipped on a snowy slope, hitting his head, which caused him to become disoriented and lost. He wrote, “I found myself deep in the wilderness, far from any trail. I eventually found a stream and followed it through very dense, steep terrain for many miles.”
He says he spent the next two days hiking 15 hours each day. He says he eventually found a trail , but it dead-ended into a snow bank a day later. Fraser doubled back and tried a different trail until finally hitting a road on Saturday, where two fellow hikers fed him his first meal in four days and took him to the nearest ranger station.
Later, at a hospital, Fraser said that he was diagnosed with a concussion and is now recuperating with family.
The National Parks Service said there were approximately 90 personnel involved in the search, including the Coast Guard, Forest Service and local officials.
The question was asked on our social media if anyone has ever been ordered to repay the cost of a search and rescue in a national park, as is the case in some states. Olympic National Park spokesman Amos Almy told KONP,
“The National Park Service has a nationwide policy where we don’t charge for search and rescue efforts. And really, that’s mostly just due to to fact that if people think about having to pay for search and rescue, they might be less likely to request one. So we want people to recreate responsibly, but they also should know that if they needed to be rescued, we are going to do that regardless of the cost.”