Posted on 06/07/2005 11:30:09 PM PDT by drtom
VANCOUVER (CP) -- The body of an American hiker was found Tuesday on Grouse Mountain, almost two weeks after he went missing at the popular tourist spot.
Const. John MacAdam of North Vancouver RCMP said the body of David Koch was found in a gully on the mountain, which is about a 15-minute drive from downtown Vancouver.
"I can confirm his body was found on the mountain," he said. "Definitely, it looks like an accident."
George Zilahi of Vancouver's North Shore Search and Rescue said the steep area in which Koch was found was one frequented by expert hikers.
Searchers found the body after a tip from a hiker.
He said Koch's body was found at the base of two cliffs in which waterfalls were located.
"We searched that extensively the first couple days of the search," he said. "It appeared with the heavy rainfall on Sunday may have flushed him out of the pools of water in this very steep drainage."
Koch's family arrived just before his body was airlifted away.
"It's a very sad day but they can take their brother home to their mother," Zilahi said.
Koch, 36, of Hartland, Wis., went missing on the mountain on May 25. Rescue crews called off their search for him on Sunday.
Video surveillance confirmed Koch got off the mountain's cable car. He then went for a 10-minute walk before going back into the atrium at the top of the mountain. Two minutes later he left the atrium for a second time, to either go to the visitor's booth or the bathroom.
Koch was wearing sandals, which led rescue crews to conclude he intended to go on a light walk.
Rescue crews, along with the Koch's family and friends, conducted an extensive search of the 1,250-metre mountain.
The last extended search for a missing person on Grouse Mountain was in 1996, when a Vancouver-area man went missing. He was never found.
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