Duo end search for son

STILLWATER, Minn. — The parents of a Utah hiker missing in the Idaho mountains have returned home to Stillwater after three weeks of searching.

David and Linda Francis say they believe their son Jon is probably dead. David Francis has written a eulogy for his son, and he and his wife are planning a memorial service in three weeks.

A memorial service was held last week at Ascension Lutheran Church in Ogden, where Jon Francis was a youth pastor.

Francis, 24, disappeared July 15 after hiking to a mountaintop in the Sawtooth Mountains. He was a counselor at a Bible camp nearby.

David and Linda Francis told the St. Paul Pioneer Press they have some anger toward Idaho authorities. They believe the official search for their son was called off too early.

David Francis is the Democratic candidate for state Senate in the Stillwater-Forest Lake area. He says he'll return to the campaign trail full time after his son's service.