CHEYENNE - A team of climbers has been enlisted to search for a renowned poet who's been missing on a Japanese island.

Craig Arnold disappeared while hiking on the southern Japanese island of Kuchinoerabu-jima April 26. The 41-year-old has been working on a book about volcanoes and was exploring a volcanic mountain on the island.

An American tracking team picked up Arnold's trail last week and determined that he went over a steep precipice. The team returned to the United States, but their efforts reduced the search area.

Now, Arnold's sister-in-law, Augusta Palmer, says a team from a Japanese climbing group called Canyons will descend the steep, vegetation-covered slope where Arnold was tracked.

She says the climbers have committed to search for two days, starting Thursday morning in Japan.