A missing hiker has been found dead in a New York state nature preserve following a three-day search, officials said Tuesday.
The 45-year-old Brooklyn man went for a solo hike at the Mohonk Preserve on March 11 but failed to report to work two days later, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) said.
He was last heard from when he spoke to his daughter over the phone before setting off in the Bonticou Crag area, officials said.
New York State Police located the missing hiker’s car in the preserve’s Spring Farm parking lot around 11:30 p.m. on March 14.
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The discovery set off a three-day search, which included state police, 10 DEC Forest Rangers, Mohonk Preserve Patrol Rangers, Sam's Point Search and Rescue, and Marbletown Rescue.
The recent snowstorm added to the already difficult conditions that search-and-rescue teams faced along the area's steep and rocky terrain, the agency said.
Around 10:15 a.m. on Friday, searchers found the missing hiker’s backpack and cellphone at the base of a 50-foot cliff.
About six hours later, the teams found the body of the hiker about 400 feet away from the presumed fall site, according to officials.
No details were immediately released about how the hiker presumably fell off the cliff or how his body wound up hundreds of feet from the site.
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The body was turned over to the Ulster County Medical Examiner's Office. No cause of death was immediately provided.
The Mohonk is a nature preserve in the Shawangunk Ridge in Ulster County, New York, with more than 70 miles of carriage roads and trails. It is located about 90 miles north of New York City.
DEC Forest Rangers work with other state agencies, emergency response organizations and volunteer groups to locate and rescue injured or lost hikers across New York state. In 2022, rangers conducted 359 search-and-rescue missions in the state, the agency said.
