Missing hiker found dead by rescue crews north of Naches

Published 1:30 am Monday, August 14, 2017

Associated Press

NACHES — Authorities say the body of a 56-year-old hiker from Yakima missing since Saturday has been found by a search and rescue helicopter crew north of Naches on Mount Clemans.

The Yakima County Sheriff’s Office said a U.S. Army helicopter with members of a mountain rescue crew located the man Monday morning at the base of a small cliff.

The sheriff’s office said the man’s wife reported him missing Saturday evening, saying he left home early that day to do a five-hour hike he had done regularly.

The sheriff’s office said crews and volunteers searched into the night Saturday without success and that a helicopter couldn’t search because of storms until Monday.

The sheriff’s office said initial observations indicate that the man somehow slipped and landed head first on rocks.