2 Hikers Elizabeth Hunter, Missing In Michigan's UP

BETE GRISE, Mich. -- A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter, the Civil Air Patrol and searchers on all-terrain vehicles scoured the woods and Lake Superior shoreline along Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula for two hikers Wednesday.

The air search for 26-year-old Elizabeth Hunter of Holly and 24-year-old James Murphy of Fenton could extend past nightfall in the hopes of spotting a campfire, Keweenaw County Sheriff Ron Lahti told The Associated Press.

Hunter and Murphy were driven Friday to High Rock Bay at the easte tip of Keweenaw in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, Lahti said. Their plans were to hike southwest along the lakeshore to a fishery in the small town of Bete Grise. They failed to arrive Monday in Bete Grise where another vehicle was left for them.

"They have limited hiking experience," Lahti said. "The shoreline is a rough terrain and some areas are impassable on foot. You have to go up and around to wooded areas and there are some conces about that."

Lahti described some of the bordering woods as dense. The area they were hiking in is about eight miles long and two miles wide.

The pair had enough food to last three days, in addition to a water bottle with a filter. "They had a few things to survive a few days out there," said Lahti, who added that his department gets about one serious missing report each year in that part of the county.

About 25 people were taking part in Wednesday's search.