Rescuers looking for three missing climbers on Mt. Hood found a body Sunday in the area where one of the climbers made a distress call a week ago, authorities said.
The dead climber had not yet been identified, said Pete Hughes, a spokesman for the Hood River County Sheriff’s Office. The victim was believed to be one of the three missing climbers, authorities said. The body was found in a second snow cave near another snow cave where rescuers found a sleeping bag, ice axes and rope, officials said.
Rescuers would be coming off the mountain early Sunday evening and planned to resume the search for the others Monday, said Capt. Mike Braibish, spokesman for the Oregon National Guard.
“We remain hopeful,” Braibish said. “We are going to still collect information and pursue the rescue of the two other climbers.”
Teams of climbers and a helicopter will work Monday to remove the body from the 11,239-foot mountain, officials said.
Near the first snow cave, helicopters had spotted rope that had been intentionally laid out in a Y-shape, which some rescuers said is commonly used by climbers to indicate their location. There also was an ice spike and footprints, said Sgt. Gerry Tiffany, spokesman for the Hood River County Sheriff’s Office.
There has been no communication from Kelly James, 48, of Dallas, 37-year-old Brian Hall of Dallas, or 36-year-old Jerry “Nikko” Cooke of New York City since Dec. 10, when James used his cell phone to call his family.
