The search for a Staunton man missing in the Shenandoah National Park since Monday has become more dangerous.

Park Rangers, Search and Rescue, family and friends, and others are looking in parts of the Cedar Mountain area in hopes of finding 50-year-old Earl Funk. For days, volunteers have searched. One volunteer, Robert Frazier, says he worries about the threat of nature.

He says, "You do have a lot of bears on this mountain. You've got lots of rattlesnakes, lots of copperheads. The rattlesnake of course can give you a little warning, the copperhead isn't going to give you any."

Frazier also says the search itself is getting more difficult.

He says, "It's kind of a dangerous situation looking around in the mountains and you can't do it in the night time because you got to many steep cliffs. You drop off one of them cliffs, you might drop 75 to 100 feet straight down. So it's a dangerous situation."

Zeph Cunningham, from the National Park Service, says despite colder temperatures, there is still a chance Funk could be alive.

Cunningham says, "It is getting cool at night, but they aren't getting to the point where it's below freezing, so still definitely survivable."

Karen Beck-Herzog from the Shenandoah National Park says Funk is familiar with the mountains.

She says, "This is an individual that knows this mountain and probably has the ability to survive better than others might, but again, it's all based on the individual."

Frazier says he's staying optimistic.

Frazier says, "I'm hoping he's okay and I hope we can find him and do it soon."

Officials say the search will continue Saturday with additional trained people. Anyone with information about Earl Funk is encouraged to call Shenandoah National Park at 1- 800- 732- 0911.