Missing Littleton Police Officer: Wife Says Search Will Be Called Off

The search for the Littleton police officer who went missing while climbing Russia's highest peak will be called of Wednesday unless he is found, his wife wrote on Facebook Tuesday. Steve Beare was last heard from on June 16 as he climbed Mt. Elbrus.

"The Russian teams will be calling off their search after the day is done tomorrow," Olivia Beare wrote, adding that she was told that "they have searched longer and harder than they typically do. There is just too much snow and harsh weather conditions to continue.

"The mountain is so large and there are 1000s of crevasse he could have fallen into that are covered spanning 100s of square miles."

Beare has hired an experienced search and rescue climber to start an expedition that will start sometime soon. (For more information on this and other local stories, subscribe to your local Patch for breaking news alerts.)

"He is not sure how many people he will have at his disposal for searching going forward because many of them have assignments already," she writes. "We still do not have any news on the cell phone. And we do not know yet if the helicopters would be able to fly tomorrow or not.

"Life itself as I know it is looking extremely bleak."

Steve Beare, who is also a member of the Colorado National Guard, had set a goal of climbing the world's seven tallest peaks.

He started with a successful climb of Mt. Kiliminjaro.

He was on Mt. Elbrus, which at 18, 510 feet high is Europe's tallest peak, when a storm blew in.

The Colorado Police Foundation, which is raising money to help pay for the search efforts, says he last checked in on June 16 and appered to have tried to phone out the next day.

Due to a blizzard, rescuers were not able to determine his exact location.

The Beares have a 20-month-old son. Olivia is 11-weeks pregnant. The foundation says that they also have "three loving puppies" who miss Steve very much.

She later posted that as bleak as things are she is "not giving up until I get the actual phone call that they have found him and did not make it.

"Because that is currently NOT THE CASE I believe he is alive out there somewhere hanging on by a very very thin thread.... as am i and that is why i am just taking some time and some space. Please continue to pray I know and I feel his days are limited. I love you baby, always."

Photos courtesy Colorado Police Foundation