BRIDGER-TETON NATIONAL FOREST, Wyo., July 10 (UPI) — Three Wisconsin sisters were found safe in the Wyoming wilderness on Thursday — two days after they failed to return from a hiking trip and their family reported them missing, officials said.
Megan Andrews-Sharer, 25; Erin Andrews-Sharer, 22; and Kelsie Andrews-Sharer, 16 were found by a helicopter pilot looking for the siblings from above the Bridger-Teton National Forest in northwest Wyoming.
The sisters were reported missing when they didn’t show up to meet their mother in Chicago Tuesday, as planned, authorities said. From Chicago, the trio were supposed to board a flight to Switzerland.
The siblings, who are from Wisconsin, are experienced trekkers and were well-prepared for their trip but it was not immediately known why they didn’t make it to Chicago.
Search teams began looking on Tuesday, and found the sisters’ vehicle parked near a trailhead on Wednesday. Thursday, a guide in the area provided a new lead by giving searchers coordinates to a location where he’d seen a female walking day before.
A short time later, about 10 a.m. local time, the helicopter pilot spotted the missing trio, landed and picked them up.
“They’re tired, cold (and) hungry, but otherwise healthy and happy to be on their way out,” U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service spokeswoman Lori Iverson said.
“The girls were found by search teams and are in a helicopter on their way back to civilization to reunite with the family,” a website dedicated to the search said. “They are OK, we have no other news beyond that for now.”
The sisters were reunited with their mother and father in Jackson, Wyo., Thursday, the website added.
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