Rescuers spotted orange backpack before locating remains
Standish, a 28-year-old Australian, had been hiking the Continental Divide Trail, a 3,100-mile route that stretches from Canada to New Mexico. He last contacted his family on July 23 via a Garmin GPS device and Facebook Messenger. The Garmin check-in included no coordinates or message, but a video message sent over Facebook Messenger placed him in the Wigwams, a series of rocky peaks on the west slope of the Teton mountain range, according to the Teton County Search and Rescue team.
On July 19, Standish had sent an update from near the Old Faithful geyser in Yellowstone National Park, describing his planned route through the Tetons, Gros Ventre wilderness, Wind River range, and the Divide Basin. Four days later, the family received the final check-in and video.
A helicopter crew searching for Standish on Wednesday morning spotted an orange backpack and then located his remains below a steep ridgeline that separates Grand Teton and the Jedediah Smith Wilderness, the Teton County coroner said. Investigators said evidence suggests Standish fell from the ridge, and that a fatal fall is the likely cause of death.
The Teton County Search and Rescue team expressed condolences to Standish’s family and thanked federal agencies that assisted in the search.
The incident is among several hiking fatalities in North America this week. In Colorado, a 15-year-old boy, Levi Strobel, died after being struck by lightning on Mount Blue Sky on Monday, the Colorado Sun reported. Four other people were seriously injured, including Strobel’s younger brother. In Arizona, Richard Fletcher, 61, died during a hike on Phoenix’s South Mountain; investigators said his death was consistent with a heat-related or medical event. In New Hampshire, a 62-year-old man died after suffering a medical emergency on the Welch-Dickey trail in the White Mountains and was evacuated by National Guard helicopter. Two hikers also died in Canada’s Banff National Park: a woman in her 20s fell from a mountain near Marvel Peak on Tuesday, and a 65-year-old from Calgary fell from Mount Temple three days earlier, according to the CBC.