CASPER, Wyo. (AP) — Wyoming authorities say the search for a missing teenager is now a recovery effort rather than a rescue.
The Casper Star-Tribune reports search personnel believe 16-year-old Joey Peterson has not survived his disappearance in Casper.
Natrona County Sheriff’s Office investigator Taylor Courtney made the announcement Wednesday, 10 days after Peterson walked away from his family home.
Courtney says authorities are asking volunteers to stop their search efforts.
Courtney says a lack of food, the clothes Peterson was wearing and the length of time he has been gone all factored into the decision to reclassify the search as a recovery effort.
He says searchers have collected a large amount of information that needs to be analyzed to make a more methodical search near the base of Casper Mountain.
