Search continues for missing teen hiker
Law enforcement personnel continued searching Monday for a Henderson teen who disappeared Saturday night while hiking in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area.
Andrew Munoz, a spokesman with the National Park Service, said that as of
7 p.m. Monday, 16-year-old Shane McNeil had not been found. Authorities think the Henderson resident was in the area between Gold Strike Canyon and White Rock Canyon, east of Boulder City and south of Hoover Dam.
McNeil is about 6 feet tall and weighs about 150 pounds. He has blue eyes and short blond hair. He was last seen wearing a white T-shirt and gray shorts. He was carrying bottled water and a couple of Bibles with him.
On Monday, about 55 personnel from various agencies, including Las Vegas police, Arizona's Mohave County sheriff's office and the Hoover Dam police, searched for the teen, who last sent a text message to his mother about 7 p.m. Saturday, telling her he could see the Colorado River and was near the dam.
Munoz said the search for McNeil restarted at 6:30 a.m. Monday. The search began when the teen was reported missing about 10 p.m. Saturday. McNeil never met up with his mother at their prearranged destination, the Hoover Dam Visitor Center.
Munoz said authorities used phone records to identify McNeil's approximate location at the time he texted his mom. The search now focuses on that area. A boat searched along the Colorado River on Monday, and three helicopters flew over the landscape.
McNeil's mother said he had hiked from their home Saturday in Henderson near the Las Vegas Beltway and the U.S. Highway 95 interchange.
Munoz said the teen is an outdoor enthusiast who has a penchant for survivor-based reality shows. Munoz said he also was an avid hiker who might have been pushing the limits of his endurance.
"We don't believe he ran away or is trying to avoid anyone," Munoz said. "He had been planning a long hike for a while. This was kind of a culmination of his self-training."
On Saturday McNeil had stopped at a Boulder City fast-food restaurant for water. Authorities aren't sure how much water he had with him when he went missing.
