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Search on for hiker missing at Pictured Rocks park

Kara Moore

MARQUETTE — A 55-year-old woman from the Milwaukee area has reportedly gone missing from a hike in the Beaver Basin Wilderness Area of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, according to the National Park Service.

Kara Moore was last seen at about 5:30 p.m. Friday, hiking on the Little Beaver Lake Trail in the area of Beaver Creek Campground, according to a press release.

Moore is described as white, 5 feet, 4 inches tall with long, gray hair. She was wearing metal-rim glasses, black pants, tennis shoes, a purple sweatshirt, a turquoise jacket and has a multi-colored backpack, according to the release.

Teams have been searching since Friday evening, Susan Reece of the NPS said.

About 10 members of Moore’s family were at the beach Friday and started packing up about 5 p.m. They hiked back to the parking lot and realized she wasn’t with them. They reported Moore missing about 7:50 p.m., and at least four teams of searchers have been looking since 8:30 p.m. Friday.

On Saturday, helicopters, canine units and marine vessels on Lake Superior and Beaver Lake were added, as well as ATVs covering trails.

They have turned up no clues, Reece said.

The search has expanded to further trail systems and off-trail searching by canine units.

“The word is out, signs are up, informing backpackers, hikers — no one has seen any sign of her,” Reece said.

The woman suffered a brain injury as a teenager, Reece added.

“So she sort of has short-term memory issues,” Reece said. “But she’s by herself not afraid of people, friendly, outgoing, just the short-term memory, which definitely when hiking — which way to go or ‘did I go here before?’ — can be a problem.”

Anyone with information regarding her whereabouts should call 911.

Agencies searching for the woman include MSP canine and helicopter units, the NPS, Alger County Sheriff’s Department, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Forest Service, according to the release.

Reece said today a tactical tracking team from the Keweenaw Bay Tribal Police as well as a private search team, Michigan Backcountry Search and Rescue, also have been employed in the search.

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