The search for a U.S. citizen who disappeared Sunday in the mountains of the Siberian republic of Buryatia, 4,500 kilometers from Moscow, has been suspended, regional Emergency Situations Ministry spokeswoman Darima Danilova said, the RIA Novosti news agency reported Wednesday.
The missing man is Colin Madsen, a 25-year-old student at the Irkutsk State Linguistic University, who was on a walking holiday with friends in the popular tourist village of Arshan, RIA Novosti reported. The group were climbing the Peak of Love, which has an altitude of 2,412 meters, in the Eastern Sayan mountains.
Madsen has not been seen since leaving the guesthouse where he was staying at around 3 a.m. on March 27, a representative of the University told Interfax. Madsen loved walking and was not known to abuse alcohol, the representative said.
“Rescuers surveyed the area but did not find the missing person. The search has now been suspended and will be resumed as soon as there is any new information on [Madsen's] possible location," Danilova said, RIA Novosti reported.
Local shamans have joined the search and promised to cooperate with the authorities, the Baikal Daily news website reported.
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