Man takes rideshare to CO national park, vanishes, officials say. Now body found
.jpeg "Blake Kieckhafer, 23, of Omaha, Nebraska, was last seen in Rocky Mountain National Park on Aug. 7, officials say.")
UPDATE: Officials say they believe they have found the body of a 23-year-old man who vanished for days after taking a rideshare service to a Colorado national park.
The presumed body of Blake Kieckhafer, of Omaha, Nebraska, was found Wednesday, Aug. 13, above Emerald Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park, the National Park Service said in a news release.
“His body was flown to a landing zone in Rocky Mountain National Park and transferred to the Larimer County Coroner’s Office,” which will officially confirm the remains’ identity, officials said.
The original story is below.
A 23-year-old man has been missing for nearly a week after officials say he took a rideshare service to a Colorado national park.
Family first reported Blake Kieckhafer of Omaha, Nebraska, missing to Rocky Mountain National Park rangers on Monday, Aug. 11, the National Park Service said in an Aug. 12 news release.
Kieckhafer was last seen when the rideshare driver dropped him off “in the Upper Beaver Meadows area” shortly before 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 7, officials said.
The area is about 1 mile from the Beaver Meadows Entrance of the park and is “on the east side of the park,” according to officials.
When he was dropped off in the park, he was “wearing a dark-colored T-shirt, dark-colored pants, and a dark-colored baseball cap with no logo,” officials said, adding that he also had a “small, maroon daypack.”
Officials said Kieckhafer, who as “buzzed/short blonde hair and a mustache, and blue/green eyes,” stands 5 feet, 11 inches tall and weighs 180 pounds.
Anyone with information about Kieckhafer is asked to call or text park officials at 888-653-0009.
Rocky Mountain National Park is about a 65-mile drive northwest from Denver.
This story was originally published August 13, 2025 at 8:27 AM.
