Manhunt at Mount Rainier after park ranger killed January 1, 2012 -- Updated 2328 GMT (0728 HKT) A man evades a roadblock in Mount Rainier National Park and shoots a ranger The ranger, a 34-year-old mother of two small children, dies, a park spokeswoman says Authorities have closed the park southeast of Seattle as they search for the gunman (CNN) -- Authorities scoured the national park around Washington's Mount Rainier on Sunday for a man they say fatally shot a park ranger and fled into the woods, a park spokeswoman said. The suspect remained at large Sunday afternoon, believed to be somewhere in the expansive park, Mount Rainier National Park spokeswoman Lee Taylor said. At this time, no video surveillance is available and authorities do not have a description of the gunman. "It began as just a normal traffic stop" around 10:30 a.m. PT (1:30 p.m. ET), Taylor explained to CNN. But the suspect didn't heed a request to pull over, prompting a ranger to radio ahead requesting assistance. Park ranger Margaret Anderson, 34, responded to that call and set up her patrol vehicle as a roadblock. "When he arrived at that spot, he got out (of his car) and fatally shot her," said Taylor. The suspect, who is believed to be armed, then ran into the spacious national park, whose border is about 50 miles southeast of Seattle. The park -- the centerpiece being the 14,410-foot Mount Rainier, which is considered an active volcano -- comprises 235,625 acres in the Cascade Range. Authorities have begun looking for the gunman, though the pending loss of daylight looms as a challenge in the search, Taylor said Sunday afternoon. Entrances to the park were closed after the shooting, and 85 visitors were being held at the park's main visitor center "until we believe that it's safe for them to drive out of the park," the spokeswoman said. Anderson was the mother of a 4-year-old and 1-year-old and the wife of a fellow park ranger, according to Taylor. "It's a horrible tragedy (and) a terrible loss of life of someone who had dedicated herself to serving the public," she said.