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Rescuers are searching for a US journalist who went missing on a hike in the remote Folgefonna national park, home to one of Norway’s largest glaciers.
Alec Luhn, 38, was last seen on Thursday 31 July as he was setting off for his hike in the park, which stretches 545 square kilometres in western Norway.
The reporter, who is from Wisconsin but based in the UK, is a Pulitzer Center Ocean Reporting Network fellow and has had two Emmy nominations. Formerly based in Moscow and Istanbul, he has reported for The New York Times, The Atlantic, and was a regular Guardian Russia correspondent from 2013 to 2017.
His wife, journalist Veronika Silchenko, said he sent a picture from his last known location, Odda, on Thursday.
She made a public appeal on social media after becoming concerned when he failed to board his flight home.
Ms Silchenko, a TV journalist, urged anyone with information or who may have seen him to get in touch.
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The search was suspended on Tuesday due to severe weather, including heavy rain and strong winds, police told NRK. (Wikimedia Commons)
“We exchanged a few texts [on Thursday],” she told CNN. “He told me that he is going to hike and sent me a picture. He looked fine, the weather was fine. “On Monday, we decided that we need to call the services, because he should have gotten out of the park by that time and probably would have been able to find the internet. So we started really panicking.”
Rescue dogs, Red Cross volunteers, special crews for alpine and glacier searches, drones and a Norwegian Air Force helicopter have all been searching the area with police.
The experienced hiker had been on a family holiday before setting out on a solo backpacking trip from Odda, according to friends.
Mr Luhn spoke to a French couple who gave him a lift to the glacier on 31 July and believe he may have described his plan to them for his route, a family friend told The Independent. They were in a camper van with their young son.
The friend said they are trying to find anyone who saw or spoke to Alec – particularly the French couple – to learn more about the routes he was taking.
Folgefonna National Park, known for its dramatic glacier tongues, wild valleys, and fast-flowing rivers, has drawn adventurous tourists since 1833.
However, its remote and rugged terrain can turn perilous in harsh weather conditions.
“Alec is basically obsessed with the Arctic,” Ms Silchenko told CBS News. “He loves glaciers and snow, and he loves explorers. He’s a climate journalist, so for him it is always that story that now because of the climate change they’re all shrinking, and he’s trying his best to go to the coldest countries.”
The search was suspended on Tuesday afternoon due to severe weather, including heavy rain and high water levels in rivers, police told The Independent.
“The police are also actively working to gather information that can narrow the search, including interviewing witnesses in the mountains and investigating telecommunications operators and mobile phone manufacturer to map the movements of the missing person,” said Eirik Loftesnes, Head of Operations at Western Police District.
By Wednesday morning, the search resumed with the Alpine Rescue Group heading to Odda by helicopter.
