After three weeks of searching in the Bighorn Mountains around Cloud Peak, the Big Horn County Sheriff’s Office announced Wednesday that it is suspending its search for missing Minnesota hiker Grant Gardner , 38.

Big Horn County Sheriff Ken Blackburn announced the end of active Search and Rescue (SAR) Wednesday evening, calling it a “heartbreaking and difficult decision.”

“Our teams have exhausted all resources and personnel over the last 20 days,” he said in a statement . “With weather conditions and other factors updated in our search models, we have to face the reality that the most optimistic survival odds have run out.”

Blackburn said SAR operations could continue “as time and evidence allow.”

Several volunteers have vowed to continue the search on their own time, but af

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