PITKIN COUNTY, Colo. — The Pitkin County Sheriff's Office said on Tuesday that they have found the 75-year-old woman who was reported missing after she failed to return from a hike on Sunday.
Jennifer Hearn was found around 3:15 p.m. on Tuesday, the sheriff's office said. In a release, the sheriff's office reported search teams found Hearn's dog, a brown Irish setter named Tawny, at about 9:30 a.m. at a home near Triangle Peak.
Finding her dog helped teams concentrate their search in one area, the sheriff's office said, which helped them find Hearn.
Hearn is receiving medical care, and the sheriff's office asked that the public give family and friends space as Hearn recovers.
Hearn was hiking the Triangle Peak trail. According to AllTrails.com, Triangle Peak, which is between Basalt and Aspen, is considered a challenging route due to steepness of the trail and sharp rocks. The out-and-back trail is just under five miles, and hikers gain more than 1,800 feet in elevation along the route.
A family member flagged down a deputy about 8:40 p.m. Sunday reporting that Hearn had not returned, but her car was still parked at the Triangle Peak Trailhead, the sheriff's office said. Hearn hikes Triangle Peak three to four times a week, according to the sheriff's office.
About 9 p.m. Sunday, Mountain Rescue Aspen members went to search the Triangle Peak area, the sheriff's office said. The search was called off around 3 a.m. due to lack of light.
Thirty Mountain Rescue Aspen team members resumed the search just after 8:15 a.m. Monday, the sheriff's office said. A Flight for Life helicopter, a fixed-wing multi-mission aircraft from the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control, and a dog and its handler joined the search Monday.
The search resumed again on Tuesday at 8:00 a.m., where 30 members of Mountain Rescue Aspen, a helicopter from Care Flight of the Rockies, and numerous citizens continued their search of the Triangle Peak area. The sheriff's office said teams focused on searching the scree fields and thick brush between the search paths from Monday.
Finding Hearn's dog about an hour later helped narrow the search area to the steep rock-covered hillsides overlooking the Woody Creek area, the sheriff's office said.
During that subsequent search of the scree fields that cover the side of Triangle Peak, teams were able to find Hearn.
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