Searchers comb woods for Scout

Summit County Search and Rescue personnel continued their search Saturday for a 12-year-old Boy Scout from Elk Ridge, Utah County, who became lost early Friday in the High Uintas.

At least 50 trained search and rescue personnel and some 130 volunteers — mostly from the Salem 8th Ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which sponsors the Boy Scout troop — combed the mountains above Mirror Lake all day Friday and Saturday.

They are looking for Garrett Bardsley, who was last seen by his father in the Pass Lake area Friday morning. Troop 694, including Bardsley and his father, was camping in the Uintas as part of an overnight Scouting activity.

Garrett Bardsley is the second Boy Scout to become lost in the High Uintas in the past month. A 13-year-old Scout from West Valley, who had become separated from his troop, was missing for two days in the wilderness area before he was found July 30.

Crews searched for Bardsley until around 9:30 p.m. Saturday, and planned to continue looking at sunup today, Summit County Sheriff Dave Edmunds said.

More than a dozen young teens who were participating in the search were sent home Saturday after Edmunds feared they, too, could get lost, said Joseph Anderson, 14, one of the teens who came home. Anderson described Bardsley, who lives nearby, as a "nice kid, though pretty quiet."

Bardsley has two brothers and a sister, all teenagers, he said.

Trained Search and Rescue crews are using a Global Positioning System to keep track of the terrain they search. As of midday Saturday they had covered two square miles.

Searchers were told to be especially thorough in searching terrain where the Scout could have fallen or lost consciousness. Edmunds described the terrain as some of the most rugged in the country with thick forests and undergrowth surrounding natural lakes.

If necessary, the search will continue through the week, but if Bardsley isn't found by next weekend, Edmunds said, he will scale back the search. Mountain lions, bears and coyotes live in the area, but Edmunds said searchers have no evidence the boy encountered any animals.

In fact, searchers say they have found no sign of the boy.