VAIL, Colo. -- A search team on Tuesday found a watch hanging from a tree branch that rescuers hoped belongs to a 35-year-old mother of four who has been missing in the Holy Cross Wilderness since this weekend.

They said Wednesday that the watch didn't belong to the woman.

Michelle Vanek, of Lakewood, was last seen Saturday when she stopped to rest while her hiking companion continued to the peak of the 14,005-feet summit. When he returned, she was gone.

More than 100 searchers, four dog teams and five helicopters searched the area, said Kim Andree, spokeswoman for the Eagle County sheriff's office.

Authorities said Vanek's friends and family couldn't identify the watch as belonging to her. No foul play is suspected in her disappearance, Andree said.

Conditions early on the search had been good, with uncharacteristically warm and dry weather, Andree said. But on Tuesday evening, the wilderness area was hit with rain, wind, lightning and snow in the higher elevations.

Search teams are being taken into the backcountry by helicopter but the weather is hampering efforts and preventing some choppers from landing.

Teams are also using heat-seeking equipment to find her.

"We also have a machine called the FLIR, which is a heat-seeking or infrared-seeking camera on the front of one of the helicopters so we are hoping that we will be able to identify Michelle, somewhere out there and have a volunteer walk to her," Andree said.

Vanek's chances of survival depend upon a mix of elements, including weather, authorities said. Vanek was dressed in stretch pants, windbreaker and ball cap, Andree said. She didn't have much water with her but there are natural sources of water on the mountain, Andree said.

Vanek's trek up Holy Cross was her first attempt at climbing a "14er" but her family said she is athletic -- having competed in several triathlons -- and stubborn.

While the search for Vanek was under way, a team hiked into Snowmass Mountain to recover the body of 66-year-old Jose Lopez, who fell at least 1,200 feet down a snow chute to his death during a hiking trip, said Sgt. Randy Barnes, of the Gunnison County Sheriff's Office. Rick Beseckner of the Gunnison County Sheriff's Office said it appeared that Lopez fell and died near the exact spot where another man died last year.

The recovery team used ropes to carry the Glenwood Springs man down a rock outcropping to awaiting horses, which took Lopez the rest of the way.

Authorities haven't decided whether an autopsy will be necessary, Barnes said.