Search continues for two missing hikers

A man and woman have both been separately missing, since going on hikes in southwest, Washington. The man, Kristopher Zitzewitz, 31, was last seen Saturday in Gifford Pinchot National Forest; while the woman, Alejandra Wilson, 23, failed to check in with her family on Monday when she was hiking the Pacific Coast Trail, as told by ABC News. Two other hikers were recently rescued in the southwest area, and mentioned running into Wilson. Rescue teams will continue the search by air for the two missing hikers on Thursday as the weather clears and will continue back on foot starting Saturday.

Kristopher Zitzewitz, 31, is one the hikers still missing in southwest, WA. 10/2/2013 Photo Credit: KGW

In an update Friday, Arnold (one of the rescued hikers) mentioned having run into Wilson. She also described having nearly run out of food after heavy rains forced her and Margiotta (the other rescued hiker) to huddle under a tarp for four days last week.
“We finally made it to Trout Lake today and another huge storm is rolling in,” Arnold wrote. “Everyone says we can’t make it because of the weather situation, and to be honest it’s quite terrifying, but I can’t fathom coming this far and giving up.”

Sadly, Wilson and Zitzewitz are not the only missing hikers in the area. Because of the government shutdown, searching for any missing hikers is more difficult than it should be. Fox News mentioned how a woman who was last seen in Craters of the Moon National Monument is still missing, but all of the employees, except for three, are on furlough. Even with a waiver, they are unsure if they will be paid for going out to search for this missing woman. This complicates the situation of finding missing hikers, because the search and rescue teams could be risking their lives without pay, but at the same time it appears as if money is the deciding factor if anyone will conduct a search.