2 Missing Utah Hiker's Bodies Found in Superstitons

[david_allen_3]

Apparently 2 of the 3 bodies of hikers that went missing last summer have been found. The group I was hiking with today at First Water Trailhead watched as MCSO brought them in. From information I could gather it sounded like foul play not lost and out of water as we first thought.

Admin Note: Original Topic on lost hikers viewtopic.php?t=5340

[big_load]

Maybe they had a falling out, especially with one unaccounted for.

[azbackpackr]

Holy cow! I had thought maybe that they were in a mine shaft that collapsed, and might never be located. It will be interesting to see how the story plays out.

[CannondaleKid]

Due to the fact that the vast majority of deaths in the Superstitions over the last century-and-a-half being death by gunshot, I had the distinct feeling that was the case here as well. I'm thinking the same about Jess Capen as well.

I'm surprised the information about the recovery of two of them isn't already on the DesertUSA forum. The guy that runs that site as well as other who helped in the search usually are right up-to-date on that.

BTW, I'm curious as to where the info came that it was 2 of the 3 men from Utah. The latest I found was a story released by AP @5:50pm today, and again an hour ago by the East Valley Tribune saying two skeletal remains were recovered and that Sheriff's officials say it'll be up to the county medical examiner to identify the remains.

[Tough_Boots]

Oh man... I'm sure glad I wasn't the hiker that found them. Does anyone know where they were found?

[juliachaos]

http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/dpp/news/cr ... s-01082011

MCSO Finds Remains of 2 People

Updated: Saturday, 08 Jan 2011, 5:27 PM MST
Published : Saturday, 08 Jan 2011, 4:31 PM MST

MESA - The Maricopa County Sherriff’s Office has found remains they believe are from two people in the Superstition Mountains Saturday afternoon.

The MCSO mountain rescue team and helicopter spent most of Saturday searching for the remains that were found by a man hiking on Friday night.

The man told MCSO that he thought they might belong to the three hikers from Utah who went missing in July, according to MCSO spokesman Jeff Sprong.

Sprong said officials will be checking to see if they are the remains of two of the hikers.

He said because of the conditions of the remains, the Medical Examiners Office will be trying to identify them. It was unknown how long it will take to identify the subjects.

[Tough_Boots]

I'm surprised the information about the recovery of two of them isn't already on the DesertUSA forum.

I just checked that forum for info and something was posted today but now marked "temporarily removed" and the topic "temporarily locked".

[azbackpackr]

I heard via the grapevine that they're going to look some more for the third one, and are not going to give out much info for the time being. Just wait and let them do their job.

[CannondaleKid]

I just checked that forum for info and something was posted today but now marked "temporarily removed" and the topic "temporarily locked".

I noticed that not long after I made the comment.

Jim, who runs DesertUSA, runs a pretty tight ship, so I believe the reason is not to have anything posted that may give the families of the men false hope. I've followed that forum since the day of the first search and the families keep close tabs on any information posted. Jim as well as a number of other members on DesertUSA have continued searching sporadically al along.

Back to the story on the news... something that seemed weird to me... If the hiker found the remains Friday night, why did it take hours of searching by helicopter to find them on Saturday? Oh well, that's what happens when we have only bits and pieces of the story. And most likely we will never get the rest of the story, at least in full.

[SuperstitionGuy]

Perhaps the hiker did not have a GPS to provide the coordinates to MCSO and/or maybe the helicopter was busy in just providing transportation to the Deputies involved and then also in searching for the third missing person.

[IHike]

Wow I was hiking the Supes yesterday and saw the helicopter in the distance...not the first time I've seen MCSO out there so thought nothing of it.

[jeep]

Hike in the Superstitions a lot, wonder where the 2 were found?

[Vaporman]

That's crazy!!! The went in the middle of summer to avoid being tracked... Wouldn't that be wild if someone was still crazy enough to track them in the summer heat and shot them all?!?

[te_wa]

i always thought Trap Canyon could have been their resting place.
at about 33.441228 -111.313944 to be exact.
like many of us, now im curious where the guys were found, and if they were indeed the 2(3) missing fellers.

[big_load]

i always thought Trap Canyon could have been their resting place.

That doesn't add up for me. Didn't they depart from First Water TH? They were reported not to be carrying enough water for a dayhike, much less a longer trek like that.

[nonot]

There were 2 different lost hiker stories in the Supes in the last (approximately) year.

1-lone Dutchman hunter Jesse Capen, still missing, last known location somewhere a bit south of Kane Springs.

2- a group of 3 dutch hunters, older gentleman, left from First water, no sign of them until apparently now.

Perhaps te-wa has the two confused.

[CannondaleKid]

Didn't they depart from First Water TH? They were reported not to be carrying enough water for a dayhike, much less a longer trek like that.

Who reported how much water they had? From the information I have been able to glean, the last guy who saw them sold them a map, and he wouldn't have known how much water they would take in. The ruse of buying a map and maybe mentioning something to the effect of taking a short day hike as a means to throw off anyone wanting to know where they "found" the Lost Dutchman mine. If they had a hand drawn map of where they were going and likely others since one had been searching the year before, so why would they buy a map at the last minute? And set out on their hike leaving their hand drawn map in the car? Also who's to say they didn't pack in more water?

But even so, if I recall correctly I'm close to their age (if not older @60?) and I've hiked 20+ miles in the Supes in 100° temps on 5 liters of water over 9 hours... so it should be possible to make it out quite some distance from First Water. Also, it seems with the little amount of info about what they did before that last day, who knows if they hadn't put out some water caches in the days before. From what I recall they had left Utah more than enough days before to get here 2-5 days before the last hike they took.

Of course without all the facts (many that will never be known even to the authorities, probably 99% of anything we can come up with is speculation. Still, I'd like to know the vicinity, just to stay away from it or at least be aware somebody might be protecting something out there, whether gold, meth, pot, or what have you.

[te_wa]

Nope, i think its entirely possible. from first water to labarge spring its only 9 miles, and to the location in the mouth of trap canyon its just one more.
remember, people hike in until they are tired, not hike in half way.
these guys could have easily made it to trap canyon, after refilling at charlebois or labarge, in hopes to find trap spring.
anyway, its just a guess, prolly a completely incorrect guess. but im having fun with it.. ;)

[DarthStiller]

from first water to labarge spring its only 9 miles, and to the location in the mouth of trap canyon its just one more.

But for 3 guys in their 50s-60s without proper equipment, experience, or WATER, and in 110+ temps that day, 9-10 miles is not a realistic possibility, IMO.

[big_load]

Who reported how much water they had? From the information I have been able to glean, the last guy who saw them sold them a map, and he wouldn't have known how much water they would take in.

If I recall, the authorities took a guess based on what was found in their vehicle. I would also venture to say from physical descriptions provided by their families that they weren't anywhere close to being seasoned hikers.