Drake Kramer: 21-Year-Old Hiker Goes Missing At Grand Canyon National Park

Drake Kramer left on Sunday for a hike in Grand Canyon National Park, and now after one week with no trace of the 21-year-old, search efforts are expanding.

Arizona authorities said Kramer hasn’t been seen since checking out of the Bright Angel Lodge on Sunday morning. His family reported him missing the next day, leading to a search and missing persons investigation.

Family members say they are perplexed at how the San Antonio man could have gone missing. Drake’s father, Robbin Kramer, said he went to see American Sniper with his son on January 29, the last time he saw him.

“He was in good spirits,” the father said by telephone from northern Arizona on Thursday.

Robbin said it wasn’t unusual to go a few days without hearing from his son, who was busy with work and school. But family members received a troubling text message from Drake Kramer saying he “loved everybody and said he had to give his body to Mother Earth.”

Family members are hoping for the best.

“We are trying to be positive,” Robbin Kramer said. “He said he loves nature, and we are trying to believe that he wants to go be in nature and explore, be on his own and deal with whatever is going on in his mind.”

“He’s always been a very loving, very caring child,” Robbin added. “He loves animals, he’s been on the honor roll his entire life. He’s a hard worker, and very frugal.”

Authorities in Arizona added that they know little about Drake Kramer, or his plans in the Grand Canyon.

“We don’t know what his plans were. He may be hiking, we just don’t know,” Kirby-Lynn Shedlowski with the Grand Canyon National Park told ABC News today.

Robbin said his son loved to go to the Grand Canyon, having visited there “two or three times.”

Drake Kramer is described as 5 feet, 7 inches tall, and 140 pounds, officials say. Anyone with information about his possible whereabouts is asked to call the National Park Service Silent Witness Line at 928-638-7840.