Search for Melbourne hiker Jordan Yap paused amid storms in Peru

The search for missing Melbourne hiker Jordan Yap has been temporarily suspended in Peru’s Huayhuash mountain range after rain and thunderstorms made operations unsafe, Peru21 reported on 28 September. Socorro Andino Peruano, the rescue association leading the work, said its teams would return when conditions permitted safe searches on the ground and from the air. Yap, 30, has not been located.

The pause follows a search across high mountain terrain that has produced no sign of Yap, according to Peru21’s account of the rescuers’ work. The association has given no date for operations to resume. For Yap’s family, the weather interruption adds uncertainty to a search that began after he failed to return from a planned solo trek and missed a flight on 24 September.

What rescuers have searched

Peru21 reported that the latest deployed group numbered 12 rescuers and began work on 26 September with support from the Caraz High Mountain Police. The team made an aerial reconnaissance flight near Cacanan Punta, at an elevation of about 4,665 metres, and searched on foot at Shusho Pass. Neither operation found a trace of Yap, the report said.

Rescuers also used drones to examine difficult ground between Cruz Milpo and the Huaylasmachay ravine, Peru21 reported. The group had three drones and two specialist operators. Those searches establish where teams have looked; they do not establish which route Yap took after his last known contact or where he might now be.

The last known itinerary

Yap left Huaraz on 14 September to hike the Huayhuash circuit alone and was expected to finish on 23 September, according to accounts reported by ABC News, Agencia Andina and Peru21. His family told ABC that he had warned them he would be off grid during the planned ten-day hike. Peru21 and Andina reported that his last known message to family was sent on WhatsApp before he began the route on 14 September.

Yap was due back in Huaraz after the trek and had a flight from Lima to Cusco scheduled for 24 September. He did not take that flight, his family told ABC. The missed return and flight prompted concern because the planned period without contact had passed. His father, Vinh Dao, told ABC that Yap was an experienced hiker, although the Peru trip was among his first solo hikes.

His family reported him missing and engaged a local private mountain rescue team. ABC also reported that Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it was providing consular assistance to the family. At the time of ABC’s report, the family said it had tried unsuccessfully to liaise with local Peruvian police; that account does not establish the current state of those contacts. Peru21 subsequently reported support for the deployed rescue group from the Caraz High Mountain Police.

Weather and the next search

The search lacks a confirmed GPS position for Yap. Peru21 and Agencia Andina reported that his satellite communications device had malfunctioned, limiting the information available to direct rescuers. Socorro Andino Peruano said rain and thunderstorms had forced the temporary halt and that it would resume ground searches and aerial reconnaissance once conditions allowed them to be carried out safely. No specific restart time has been announced in the reported account.

Weather has affected rescue access in the Huayhuash range before. Agencia Andina reported that, earlier in September, Peruvian police and Socorro Andino rescued a Canadian tourist at about 4,800 metres after high winds prevented a police helicopter from reaching her. Rescuers completed that evacuation by land. It is an example of how mountain conditions can constrain operations, while the conditions and outcome of Yap’s search remain unresolved.