Missing hiker had experience on Swan trail

The search continues for a 59-year-old Eureka man who didn’t return from a hike on the Swan Crest on Tuesday.

On Friday, crews resumed searching on the ground and from the air for William Hendrix.

“He’s been out there since Tuesday, and they still haven’t found him,” said Jan Hendrix, the missing hiker’s wife.

Hendrix left for the hike around 5 a.m. Tuesday and was headed for Thunderbolt Mountain. Search crews found his pickup truck at the North Lost Creek Trailhead.

“He had hiked it before,” Jan Hendrix said. “He hiked it in May with the Glacier Mountaineering Society.”

A registered nurse, William Hendrix is an avid hiker, hunter and fisherman.

Jan Hendrix said that she has been in close contact with the Lake County Sheriff’s Office. Personnel from that office, Swan/Mission Search and Rescue and Flathead County agencies are assisting in the search.

The Two Bear Air helicopter returned to the search on Friday.

William Hendrix is 5 feet 8 inches tall, 170 pounds and has salt-and-pepper hair.

There have been few clues so far. Jan Hendrix said searchers found a boot print, but no one knows if it is from her husband.

“He has a lot of friends and loving family and people who need to get him back,” she said.

Anyone with information to help the search should call the Lake County Sheriff’s Office at 883-7301.

Reporter Matt Hudson may be reached at 758-4459 or by email at mhudson@dailyinterlake.com.