Search called off for 60-year-old hiker missing in Tahoe

An extensive search for a 60-year-old man named Jason Coughran, who was hiking in the Lake Tahoe Basin on Memorial Day, has been called off, the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office said. While the large-scale search effort has concluded, Coughran’s disappearance is still an open and active missing person case. 

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Coughran was last heard from on Monday, May 25, at approximately 4 p.m. when he was hiking into Desolation Wilderness from the Fallen Leaf Lake trailhead. He was hiking near Angora Peak.

Emergency responders organized a large search and rescue operation in the days following his disappearance, with almost 200 search and rescue personnel from about 30 agencies and local businesses showing up to help. 

On Monday, a week after Coughran disappeared, the search escalated. The National Guard sent a Chinook helicopter to assist the search, while 60 more search and rescue volunteers traveled by vehicle. Fifty of those volunteers continued the search overnight in Desolation Wilderness, a 63,960-acre expanse of forests and mountains located southwest of Lake Tahoe. 

The search for Coughran extended far into Desolation Wilderness, with volunteers scouring the areas around Half Moon Lake, Clyde Lake, Gilmore Lake and the surrounding peaks, Kyle Parker, spokesperson for the sheriff’s department, told SFGATE earlier this week.  

The case is now a missing person investigation and remains active and open, Parker told SFGATE in an email on Thursday.

“As leads develop in the case, additional search efforts will be conducted,” Parker wrote. “The El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office remains committed to locating Mr. Coughran.”

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The sheriff’s office described Coughran as a white man, standing 6 feet, 2 inches tall and weighing 150 pounds. “He has brown hair, hazel eyes and has an athletic build,” the sheriff’s office wrote on Facebook. Officials say he was believed to be wearing khaki shorts, but his exact attire is not known for certain.

Friends called Coughran “an avid hiker” on social media, noting that he often hikes solo and is accustomed to high altitudes. 

Weather conditions deteriorated significantly in the days after Coughran was reported missing, with a late-season storm rolling into the Sierra Nevada the week after Memorial Day. A spokesperson for the California Office of Emergency Services said on X that “inclement weather, rugged terrain and limited access” were some of the challenges the search faced. 

If you have information about Coughran’s whereabouts, the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office requests that you call dispatch at 530-573-3051.

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