Backpack Found Belongs to Promoter Bob Arum's Missing Son

Rangers searching the North Cascades Range of Seattle, Wash., for John Arum, the 49-year-old missing son of Top Rank Promotions CEO Bob Arum (pictured above), found a backpack at the 7,400-foot level of the 8,500-foot peak Storm King Mountain on Wednesday evening that was later determined to belong to John Arum.

Reported missing since Sunday while on a weekend camping and hiking trip, John Arum's absence was made known to his 78-year-old father on Tuesday, forcing him to leave a Los Angeles press conference that was the start of a three-city press tour touting the Manny Pacquiao-Antonio Margarito fight on Nov. 13 at Cowboys Stadium.

"Yesterday, in the late afternoon, a ground searcher who was at the 7,400-foot elevation level did find a backpack. The backpack was about 900 feet below the summit of Storm King Mountain," said Kerry Olson, a spokeswoman for the North Cascades National Park.

"We were able to confirm that the backpack did belong to our missing climber," said Olson. "They picked up the backpack and they brought it to his family, and his family was able to confirm that those were his belongings."

Olson said that searchers believe that John Arum meant to leave his backpack at that location, determining that he meant to lighten his load. Also, Olson said that John Arum had apparently removed the gear necessary for making the final climb.

"There was gear inside of the backpack, but not all of it. It was believed that the backpack was intentionally placed at that location along the climbing route to the summit of Storm King Mountain," said Olson, adding that the backpack was found at about 5 p.m.

"The backpack was set up along the route. It didn't look like it had fallen anywhere. The backpack was set up upright," said Olson. "It's not uncommon that climbers will take out their essential climbing gear for summiting but leave their heavier weight behind so that they can go to the summit faster. They just take their critical gear for the final approach."

On Wednesday, Olson said that five independent teams, for a total of 20 park rangers, as well as helicopters searched for Arum. The procedure will continue today, said Olson.

"After the backpack was discovered, they continued to search and did not find any more clues yesterday," said Olson. "So today, they're continuing with both air and ground searches, but in a more concentrated area, which is the summit. So there will be air searches of the summit on the North side of the mountain, and in the approach up the mountain and the areas surrounding it."

John Arum, an avid hiker and environmental attorney in Seattle, was expected to arrive home Sunday after hiking the Storm King Peak, according to friends and family. An expert hiker and climber, Arum has been on a quest to climb the 100 highest summits in Washington and has "18 left to complete," said Top Rank's Dena duBoef, Arum's step sister.