Body Of Missing Hiker On Mount Rainier Found In Crevasse

The body of one of three skiers reported missing over the past weekend was recovered in Washington’s Mount Rainier National Park.

The body of Matthew Bunker, 28, was found Monday in a crevasse at the base of a cliff by rescue helicopters and search parties.

According to the New York Post, Bunker was a resident of Seattle and had been skiing at altitudes of more than 10,400 feet when he fell. The cause of the incident is still being investigated. The terrain is prone to rock-falls and avalanches. His climbing partner said he was missing since June 26 on Liberty Ridge.

The search for Bunker and the other hikers had been hampered by bad weather. However, on June 29, clear skies allowed for the search leading to Bunker’s discovery.

Mount Rainier, National Park deputy superintendent Tracy Swartout extended her deepest condolences to Bunker's loved one and friends. She added that it brought a high degree of sorrow not to be able to bring him home to the family.

The 28-year-old Seattle resident had spent five years in the military and incidentally went missing in an area where six hikers were killed in 2014.

In separate park excursions at Mount Rainier, two other men had been missing for over a week as well. Vincent Djie, an Indonesian student who has been living in Seattle, disappeared on June 19 while hiking the Van Trump Trail. Meanwhile, Talal Sabbagh, who also lives in Seattle, was reported missing after he intended to hike at Paradise on June 21.

Swartout said that every case of missing people on the mountain is concerning.

Mount Rainier, an active volcano, is more than 14000 feet tall at its peak, and it was one of the parks that were temporarily off-limits during the COVID-19 pandemic, New York Times reported.

Hiking had been prohibited from March 24 to June 5, and the visitor’s center and other facilities remain closed. Djie and Sabbagh were both last seen in the Paradise area of the park where most visitors go to drive up the trail.