Reece was a vegetation research intern for the United States Geological Survey’s (USGS) Biological Resources Division in Hawaii’s Mauna Loa area. He resided in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park near Hilo and worked on the Palila restoration project in late 1999.

A 69-year-old Orinda man on a quest to climb the highest peak in every California county has been missing on Mount Shasta since Saturday and is the subject of an intensive mountainside search.