A Manhunt in Moab

Contributing editor Charles Kulander is based in Moab, Utah, where a manhunt is currently underway for a suspect accused of shooting a park ranger. He sends us this quick dispatch for travelers intending to visit the area:

Manhunt in Moab? Don't worry. It's still business as usual at Utah's Arches and Canyonlands national parks and at neighboring Dead Horse Ranch State Park despite a massive manhunt just outside the parks' boundaries, now in its third day. Some 167 law enforcement officers are combing through the rugged red rock terrain, searching for Lance Leeroy Arellano, suspected of shooting Park Ranger Brody Young last Friday night at the Poison Spider trailhead, a popular mountain biking and jeep trail four miles SW of Moab. Young, who suffered three gunshot wounds, remains in critical condition at a Grand Junction, Colorado hospital. At a press conference Monday night, Sheriff Nyland said no clues were found during the day's search, which involved three helicopters, two boats, inter-agency SWAT teams, and the FBI. While the parks remain open, the Colorado River downriver from Moab is currently closed to boating, camping, and hiking.

[Utah Daily Herald]

A Manhunt in Moab

Backlink: http://blogs.nationalgeographic.com/blogs/intelligenttravel/2010/11/a-manhunt-in-moab.html