Cian McLaughlin was last seen at Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming on June 8, 2021. He entered via the Moose Entrance Station at 2:15 p.m. His cellular phone last pinged in the area of Teton Park Road near Cottonwood Creek. He has never been heard from again.
During the search, a witness, Heather Mycoskie, provided false information to the authorities. She said she'd seen McLaughlin in the late afternoon/early evening hours on the day of his disappearance, hiking on the south side of the Bradley-Taggart moraine. Mycoskie said she'd talked with McLaughlin and he told her he was from Ireland and currently living in Jackson, Wyoming. She said he told her he was headed south towards Taggart Lake and planned to jump off his favorite rock into the water.
The sighting and conversation turned out to be fabricated, however. All the other sightings placed McLaughlin on the trail system leading to the Garnet Canyon, Surprise Lake, Ampitheater Lake and Delta Lake. McLaughlin had also searched online for information about Delta Lake just before his hike.
Mycoskie was charged with filing a false report. In a deferred prosecution agreement, she was banned from Grand Teton National Park for five years and agreed to pay $17,600 in restitution for the expenses the authorities incurred while searching for McLaughlin in the wrong place.
McLaughlin's family stated he enjoys outdoor pursuits and had decided to live in Wyoming so he could be close to nature. During the winter months he worked as a snowboard instructor, and in the summer he worked at a bar. He was very familiar with the trail he was taking and it wasn't considered to be a difficult trail.
An extensive search of the park turned up no indication of his whereabouts. He's presumed to have met with a mishap in the wilderness.
