Searchers Fail To Find Missing Mt. Herman Hiker, 20

EL PASO COUNTY, CO – More than 80 volunteers and several law enforcement agencies combed the area near Mount Herman searching for an experienced hiker, age 20, missing for three days on a trail where a cyclist was murdered last year.

Kevin Rudnicki, a junior at the University of Wyoming who grew up in Palmer Lake, left his home for a hike Sunday morning around 8 a.m. his mother Melissa Reynolds told 11 News.

"I know he took four water bottles and a banana with him; he was wearing a t-shirt and shorts. He was not prepared to go camping overnight. ... He did not take a sleeping bag, he did not take food with him. Nothing was missing from the home," she said.

Rudnicki's mother knew Tim Watkins, 60, who was shot last September during a bike ride on the mountain. No arrest has been made in that case.

“It was the last thing I said to (Rudnicki) before he left,” Melissa Reynolds told the Colorado Springs Gazette. “I said, ‘Make sure you have your pocketknife with you, because this is where Tim died a year ago. It’s not safe. Just be aware.’”

Rudnicki, an experienced hiker who is studying to join the U.S. Forest Service, ran into his former middle school teacher around 8:45 a.m., the Colorado Springs Gazette reported. He said Rudnicki was spotted on Trail 715 in the Limbaugh Canyon area.

Searchers Tuesday and Wednesday did not find any sign of Rudnicki. El Paso County Sheriff's deputies as well as neighboring search and rescue groups used drones and riders on horseback to search the Mt. Herman area.

Rudnicki was described as a 20-year-old white male with curly red/auburn hair. He is 5-foot-9. His mother says he was last seen wearing a green t-shirt, khaki shorts and a Wyoming ball cap.

If you see him or saw him at any time on Sunday, the family asks that you please call the El Paso County Sheriff's Office right away at 719-520-7238.

Image via El Paso County Sheriff

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