Crews search for 2 missing hikers at Zion National Park

By Jackie Valley

Tuesday, April 19, 2011 | 11:48 a.m.

Two hikers disappeared in Zion National Park this past weekend while embarking on a daylong trip that included steep rappels and swims through streams, the National Park Service said today.

Park officials said Evgenia Bruzulukova, 25, of Roy, Utah, and Jonathon Wilson, 28, from Portland, Ore., had a backcountry permit for a one-day trip Saturday through Russell Gulch and the left fork of North Creek, which is near Kolob Terrace Road about 15 miles north of Virgin, Utah.

Park rangers discovered their vehicle at the left fork of the North Creek trailhead Sunday, prompting a search. Officials said the couple was last seen Saturday morning at the head of Russell Gulch.

Officials said streams along the route are running "very high and cold" due to runoff from melting snow.

Multiple ground teams, dog teams and a helicopter are involved in search efforts that include 25 park rangers, park employees and volunteers, officials said.

Bruzulukova is about 5-feet-6-inches tall and 145 pounds, authorities said, while Wilson is about 5-feet-8-inches tall and 180 pounds.

Anyone with information about the missing hikers is being asked to contact Zion National Park dispatch at (435) 772-0178. Zion National Park is about three hours northeast of Las Vegas in southwest Utah.