Monday, 17 September 2007 01:38

Man Believed to go Missing in Yosemite National Park

Park rangers called for a large-scale search and rescue mission yesterday as they continued searching for a 58-year-old city worker who last communicated with anyone on Friday afternoon. Ronald Hoggard is the city manager of Corcoran in the Central Valley. He called his wife from his car on Friday afternoon, and rangers say he seems to have disappeared somewhere between Fresno and the park's south entrance near Fish Camp. Hundreds of people are reported missing each year in Yosemite National Park, which gets more than 3.5 million annual visitors. Most turn up within hours, after friends or relatives report them missing. This is the second time this year that the park has called in rescue specialists, canine squads and helicopter crews. In late July of this year, an 80-year-old Indiana woman went missing after a day hike in the high Sierra, and was found dead about two weeks later.