Mountain Mail/Chaffee County Times, March 24, 2014
Gene George
The body of missing hiker Gene George may have been found.
The Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office reported that remains recovered on Mount Harvard on March 24 may be those of the 64-year-old man, who was last seen on a mid-September hike on the popular fourteener.
The body was recovered following the discovery of a wallet and clothing the previous day.
On Sunday, Colorado Springs resident Karl Maes found a wallet and clothing in “very rugged terrain marked by thick underbrush” a quarter-mile off the trail to Mount Harvard and Mount Columbia, the sheriff’s office reported.
Maes notified sheriff’s deputies and turned over the wallet to them that evening.
The wallet contained identification belonging to George, Undersheriff John Spezze said.
Maes accompanied volunteers on a search the next day, when the body was found after about 3 hours. It was buried under about 10 feet of snow, Spezze said.
The remains were located 2½ miles from the North Cottonwood Creek Trailhead, where George’s car was found parked last fall.
The news was reported Monday to George’s sister, Linda Petrigac.
“It gave them a sense of peace because there’s closure,” Spezze said.
Spezze said authorities do not know the cause of death, but foul play is not suspected.
The body has been released to Chaffee County Coroner Randy Amettis for examination to determine cause and manner of death. A positive identity will be established through DNA analysis.
George was last heard from Sept. 18 when he spoke by telephone with his girlfriend in Cleveland. George is believed to have hiked to the summit of Mount Columbia the following day and spent the night in his Buena Vista motel room that evening.
His movements after that are not certain, although other hikers reported seeing a man fitting George’s description who reached the summit of Mount Harvard Sept. 21.
George also reportedly told his friends he planned to hike Mount Harvard either Sept. 19 or 20.
When George failed to check out of his motel as scheduled on Sunday, Sept. 22, the motel owner notified Buena Vista police, saying he was concerned for the man’s safety.
George’s vehicle was found parked and locked at the North Cottonwood Creek trailhead, and a search mission was launched Sunday, Sept. 22.
After the second night of the search failed to turn up any trace of George, Spezze, the incident commander at the time, began marshaling additional resources from around the region.
More than 100 volunteers from seven counties spanned a two-mountain area with helicopters, a fixed wing aircraft, search dogs, two horseback teams, two mules and other specialized equipment.
The search was scaled back after authorities found few clues to George’s whereabouts following an extensive four-day hunt.
“We’re running out of places to search right now. We’ve covered all areas of probability twice, sometimes three times,” Spezze told the Times during the effort to find George.
Spezze said at the time that the search spanned 70 square miles, “at the very minimum.”
George’s sister donated $5,000 to the Chaffee County Search and Rescue North rescue fund in November.
In a letter accompanying the funds, Petrigac said, “I truly appreciate all that you did in searching for Gene George and admire your dedication to your work.”
