Man Found Dead In Montana River Wrongly Reported As Hiker Missing In Wyoming

As a search for a Minnesota hiker missing in the remote Cloud Peak Wilderness of northern Wyoming continues, confusion over another missing man found dead in Montana has rubbed at already raw emotions.

Reports out of Big Horn County, Montana, about finding the body of a missing man in the Bighorn River caused a storm of speculation on social media that it was the man search and rescue teams are looking for in Wyoming.

It wasn’t. That recovery was Alan Shaw, an 82-year-old who reportedly disappeared while on the river with a companion when their boat capsized.

The Big Horn County Sheriff’s Office in Wyoming reports Thursday that a full-on search and rescue effort is ongoing for Grant Gardner, 38.

He was solo camping and hiking in the wilderness with a goal to summit Cloud Peak, the tallest mountain in the Bighorn Range at 13,166 feet.

And he did that on July 29, texting his wife at home at about 7 p.m. mountain time saying he’d made it to the top. The text also indicated the climb “was more taxing than he expected and he was tired,” the sheriff’s office previously reported.

“He said it was straight uphill on boulders,” Lauren Gardner previously told Cowboy State Daily, adding that she didn’t know many details of the search, but is being kept in the loop.’

“I think they’re concerned he went off trail and got lost, so they’re looking in all possible areas,” she said. “I’m staying by my phone every second.”

‘Still Hoping 100%’

At home in Minnesota with their two children, ages 13 and 11, an emotional Lauren Gardner said Thursday they continue to hold out hope for her husband, who’s an experienced and skilled outdoorsman.

She also said there’s not much else to report other than the effort remains search and rescue, not search and recover.

“That’s pretty much where we are, they have all the different teams out there looking,” she said. “They are still hoping 100%” to find her husband.

She also said she heard about the confusion over the recovery of the missing man in Montana, and “they assured us that wasn’t related.”

In the meantime, not knowing is difficult and emotional, she said.

“Not well,” Lauren said when asked how she’s holding up. “I wish I could say more. There’s just nothing much to say at this point.”

She has previously told Cowboy State Daily how thankful she and her family are for the outpouring of concern for her husband and the tenacity of the search effort.

“I’m very grateful and thankful for all the help everyone out there has been to look for him and support our family,” she said.

Unfortunate Mix-Up

In the meantime, the Big Horn County Sheriff’s Office in Wyoming wants to make sure the rumors about the two searches are squashed.

“There appears to be some confusion regarding the search location of two missing persons,” the agency reported Thursday. “Big Horn County MONTANA has been searching for a missing person in the Bighorn River near Hardin MONTANA. Unfortunately, that subject was found deceased.”

In the days since, “it has been erroneously reported the subject was Mr. Gardner, who is still missing in Big Horn County WYOMING.”

While geographically very close on either side of the border between the states, the mix-up is unfortunate, the report says.

“We are sure the reports were meant to be well-meaning, however inaccurate,” it says.

Greg Johnson can be reached at greg@cowboystatedaily.com.