The father of a missing hiker last seen at the Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona says his son texted him telling him "he needed to be back with Mother Earth." 
 
 Drake Kramer, 21, of San Antonio, was last seen Sunday morning checking out of the Bright Angel Lodge, officials said. 
 
 His father, Robbin Kramer, said his son told him Monday that "he was at the Grand Canyon and he needed to be back with Mother Earth and set his soul free. At that point we really started getting worried and started calling and trying to get people to look for him." 
 
 The family reported Drake Kramer missing on Monday, and search efforts and a missing person investigation are now under way. 
 
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 "He posted on his Facebook when he was out here with his aunt last time: 'Wish I could stay.' And he had other posts about ... places he'd like to see, like the Redwood Forest, before he dies," Robbin Kramer said. 
 
 "We're focusing on the positive by trying to believe that him saying he needed to be with Mother Earth and set his soul free that he was talking about being out in nature and being one with nature," he said. 
 
 Drake Kramer loves to be outdoors and camp, his father said, but he's not sure if his son took appropriate hiking equipment with him. 
 
 "He was on the road to be a geologist so he could be out in nature where he loves to be," Robbin Kramer said. 
 
 Drake Kramer drove out west on I-10, according to his father. 
 
 "There had to be people that saw him when he filled up for gas. We'd really like to know if anyone saw him purchase any of the appropriate equipment with cash," Robbin Kramer said. "If anyone along the way saw him, heard anything, any information would be great." 
 
 Kirby-Lynn Shedlowski with the Grand Canyon National Park told ABC News, "We don't know what his plans were. He may be hiking, we just don't know." 
 
 "Nobody is sure where he is, what he's doing, if he's OK," Robbin Kramer said. "So many people that love him and are worried about him. Everyone is just on the edge of their seat." 
 
 Drake Kramer is described as having brown hair and blue eyes. He is 5 feet 7 inches tall and 140 pounds, officials say. Anyone with information can call the National Park Service Silent Witness Line at 928-638-7840. ||||| Drake Kramer missing for sixth day of searching 
 
 Photo: Courtesy Photo Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Image 1 of 1 Drake L. Kramer, 21, of San Antonio, was reported missing from Grand Canyon National Park on Monday, Feb. 2, 2015. Drake L. Kramer, 21, of San Antonio, was reported missing from Grand Canyon National Park on Monday, Feb. 2, 2015. Photo: Courtesy Photo Drake Kramer missing for sixth day of searching 1 / 1 Back to Gallery 
 
 After six days of searching, a San Antonio man is still missing at the Grand Canyon National Park. 
 
 Drake L. Kramer, 21, was last seen Feb. 1 in the vicinity of the Bright Angel Lodge on the South Rim, the National Parks Service said in a press release. 
 
 Kramer stayed the previous night as a guest at the lodge, checking out the next morning. Family members reported him missing Monday. 
 
 No additional clues have been found in the time that the National Parks Service Search and Rescue has been searching for Kramer. 
 
 Because of this, the search will be scaled back to a continuous, but limited mode in which rangers and pilots search for clues when in the area, the release stated. 
 
 Kramer is described as 5’7, 140 pounds, brown hair and blue eyes. He is last known to be wearing blue jeans and an olive green sweatshirt. 
 
 For the past six days, park rangers have searched the South Rim developed area, stretching from Hermit’s Rest on the West Side to Grandview on the East, the release stated. 
 
 “Teams of searchers have walked miles along the canyon rim, searched heavily forested areas, utilized dog teams, performed several over the rim technical searches, and conducted multiple aerial reconnaissance missions to support ground searchers,” the release stated. 
 
 Posters with Kramer’s picture and description remain at various South Rim locations. Anyone with information regarding his whereabouts is encouraged to call the National Park Service Silent Witness Line at (928) 638-7840. 
 
 jbeltran@express-news.net 
 
 Twitter: @JBfromSA ||||| An Indiana man is accused of forcing his three young grandsons on brutal hikes at the Grand Canyon, beating them, making them walk on ulcerated blisters, denying them food and water and pushing them to run up the trail under the intense sun. 
 
 Christopher A. Carlson, of Indianapolis, was charged with child abuse. Rangers and passers-by noted the alleged abuse by Carlson against the boys, ages 12, 9 and 8, according to a court documents. 
 
 One of the hikes down the most popular trail at the Grand Canyon lasted 18 miles last weekend, when temperatures reached up to 108 degrees at Phantom Ranch along the Colorado River. A ranger spotted the group with binoculars on a trail and saw Carlson shoving the oldest boy and whipping him with a rolled up a T-shirt, authorities said. 
 
 When asked about the condition of the boys during a hike on Aug. 15, Carlson became defensive, the ranger said. He refused to let the boys cool off in a water fountain and also refused to let the boys eat food the ranger offered, NBC Indianapolis affiliate WTHR reported. 
 
 When Carlson left the area briefly, the ranger asked the younger boys how they felt. The boys said they were tired, sore and didn't want to continue the hike. After Carlson returned, the ranger said, he became aggressive, but agreed to hike out of the park with the boys, WTHR reported. 
 
 The boys later said that Carlson told them to "look happy" if they passed people on the trail and say they were "fine" if asked. 
 
 On Aug. 28, during the 18-mile hike, one of the boys told a passing hiker to "call the emergency," which later led to rangers confronting Carlson on the steep trail, WTHR reported. 
 
 According to court documents, the boys had injuries that were consistent with ongoing abuse. 
 
 The boys were badly sunburned and had severely chafed groins because Carlson allegedly didn't let them wear underwear, the Arizona Daily Sun reported. 
 
 The boys' mother, Tara Danaher, of Indianapolis, sobbed and covered her face during a hearing Thursday to determine whether Carlson should remain in custody. She said her children went on a series of trips with their grandfather this summer, including to Central America and Jamaica. The highlight of the latest trip that included the Grand Canyon was supposed to be Disneyland, she said. 
 
 Danaher, 28, said she talked with her children throughout the summer and that they never expressed any concerns. 
 
 "I don't want to say I can't believe it because anything is possible in this world," she said during breaks in the court hearing. "I want to know what the hell happened." 
 
 The boys told investigators that they had been hit, pushed, choked, pinched, squeezed and whipped, and had vomited several times when Carlson forced their fingers down their throats. 
 
 Photo of the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. 
 
 They also said they were not allowed to drink water and had been limited to little food. Rangers fed and hydrated the boys inside an ambulance and they were placed in the care of child protective services. 
 
 The same day the rangers confronted Carlson, an adult died hiking in the Grand Canyon from hyperthermia and dehydration, reported the Arizona Daily Sun. 
 
 The trail that the group hiked on two separate times last month can be deceiving. The Bright Angel Trail starts around 7,000 feet in elevation and drops to 2,400 feet at the river, and the temperature varies widely. The National Park Service advises hikers not to make the trip to the river and back in one day but people do it sometimes. 
 
 Carlson took the children on the latest hike on Aug. 28. Park Service Special Agent Chris Smith testified Thursday that Carlson told authorities that the boys had been overweight and he thought the hike would get them into shape. 
 
 "He told me that he loved his grandchildren very much but at the same time there were tough people in the world and his grandchildren needed to be tough as well," Smith said. 
 
 Defense attorney Luke Mulligan suggested that rangers could have done more if they believed the children were at risk of serious injury or death. 
 
 Carlson has not yet entered a plea in the case. 
 
 The boys are in the custody of the state. Police didn't place the boys with their mother because the best interests of the boys are "not her primary concern," WTHR reported.
– It's been a week since 21-year-old San Antonio native Drake Kramer was spotted at the Bright Angel Lodge on the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona. Last Monday, the avid hiker and aspiring geologist texted his father that he was at the Grand Canyon and "needed to be back with Mother Earth and set his soul free," his father tells ABC News; then he disappeared. "At that point we really started getting worried and started calling and trying to get people to look for him," his dad says. Kramer had visited the area with his aunt, and he posted "wish I could stay" on Facebook. "We're focusing on the positive by trying to believe that him saying he needed to be with Mother Earth and set his soul free that he was talking about being out in nature and being one with nature," says his dad. Because a week has gone by with no clues, efforts are now being scaled back to rangers and pilots looking for clues when they're in the area, reports San Antonio Express-News. Kramer is described as 5 feet 7 inches tall, 140 pounds, with blue eyes and brown hair. He was last seen in blue jeans and an olive-green sweatshirt. "We don't know what his plans were. He may be hiking, we just don't know," says a Grand Canyon National Park spokeswoman. (A group of 15 hikers was found in California's wilderness just last fall.)