(PartiallyPolitics.com) – On Monday, the Boise County Sheriff’s Office revealed that the remains of Jack Thomas, a hiker who had disappeared in June 2016 have been found seven years later.
The 66-year-old man had been hiking in the Sawtooth Mountains close to the Queen’s River trailhead when he disappeared. Following a two-week search authorities had not been able to locate the hiker or his tracks.
Late last month backcountry hikers had informed authorities that they had found clothing, a hiking boot, and a wallet, all of which officials found had belonged to Thomas. Search teams proceeded to search the area close to Benedict Lake where Thomas’ items had been found only to discover a cell phone, iPod, and an ice axe. Boise County Sheriff’s Detective Max Sprague revealed to the Idaho Statesman that they had then discovered a satellite GPS device, a day pack, and some skeletal remains that were around half a mile away from the trail.
Sprague stated that it is suspected that Thomas had left the trail temporarily to see the mountain lakes only to become incapacitated.
Boise County Sheriff Scott Turner stated that authorities were 99.9 percent certain that the remains they had found belonged to Thomas.
Boise County Coroner Pam Garlock stated that it was likely that Thomas’s fall had caused him to get hypothermia.
Thomas had reportedly been an avid backcountry hiker. His wife also stated that she was happy to have closure. As she stated if they had recovered everything earlier then they would have probably had him cremated and left his ashes “back up to that spot” as he apparently had really liked it.
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