Body found in search for missing snowshoer on Mount Rainier

MOUNT RAINIER NATIONAL PARK, Wash. (AP) — Rescue crews on Mount Rainier have discovered a body matching the description of a snowshoer who vanished in a severe storm over the weekend.


National park spokeswoman Patti Wold said Monday the body had been turned over to the Pierce County medical examiner's office.

The 37-year-old Puyallup, Washington, man intended to spend Saturday night at Camp Muir, a stone shelter nearly 10,200 feet up the 14,410-foot volcano. It wasn't clear if he knew the forecast called for a bad storm, but the formidable conditions forced him to turn back.

Two other people took him into their tent and snow cave at Panorama Point, at 6,800 feet, but the three of them abandoned the camp when one of the walls collapsed. They descended together toward the visitor center at Paradise, about 1,400 vertical-feet below, but the man became separated from the others.


Current conditions are cold and windy, and avalanche conditions are considerable, park staff said.