The search continued Friday in Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park for a park ranger who briefly spoke with a group of vacationing Kansans, including Douglas County District Judge Steve Six, before disappearing into the wilderness.

Jeff Christensen, 31, a veteran ranger, emergency medical technician and experienced mountaineer, was last seen July 29 while on a back-country patrol.

He came upon a group of Kansas hikers, including two adult men – one from Lawrence – and two boys, one who wore a distinctive sweatshirt, according to the National Park Service.

Six, of Lawrence, who contacted the Journal-World on Friday, said the group included himself, his brother-in-law and Six’s two nephews.

“We were hiking on the Chapin, Chiquita and Ypsilon trails on Friday, July 29, in Rocky Mountain National Park when the ranger went missing,” Six said. “We saw the ranger at the trail head, but never saw him later on the hike.

“My nephew who lives in Overland Park had the sweatshirt with the ‘State Track and Field Champions – It’s A Tradition’ on it.”

• Lawrence hikers may have been last to see park ranger (08-05-05)

On Thursday, park officials armed with sparse details were working to identify the Kansas hikers whose identities were still unknown to them. A story about the effort to identify the hikers appeared in Friday’s Journal-World.

Six told the Journal-World on Friday that his group spoke with Christensen briefly about some bighorn sheep they had seen in the area. Six said he had also related this information to parks service officials once he learned they were trying to identify the Kansans.

“They’re piecing it together,” he said.

Approximately 150 searchers using five helicopters and three dog teams continue to search a 26-square-mile area where they believe Christensen may be.