Hikers have found the body of a woman who had been missing in the Beartooth Mountains in southern Montana since early July, Carbon County officials reported.
Carbon County Sheriff’s Office
Lifeguards believe Tatum Morrel, 23, was climbing Whitetail Peak on July 2, when she was trapped on a major slide and suffered fatal injuries.
The area where his body was found Saturday had been searched several times by rescue teams. However, it was buried mostly under rocks and was difficult to see, officials said.
“After nearly two months of attempted search efforts, we are relieved that she can be returned to her family,” Assistant Chief Jon Trapp told Red Lodge Fire Rescue.
Morell was an experienced hiker and climber who planned to climb five mountain peaks near Red Lodge, just north of Yellowstone National Park.
Morell, a graduate student at Montana State University, set up camp on July 1 and contacted his mother in Ketchum, Idaho, that evening via a satellite communication device. He is believed to have left his tent the next day and did not return. The search began on July 5th.
Various search and rescue agencies and police, dog equipment, helicopters, ground search equipment and other means were used to try to locate Morell in the rugged, rocky terrain of the Beartooth Mountains, CBS affiliate KTVQ reported.
“Finding her, especially buried in that slippery rock, answered many questions about why our ground crews could find her, why helicopters couldn’t find her, and even why search dogs couldn’t find her. “This helps us a lot to put the puzzle pieces together,” Trapp told the station.
Helicopter crews helped retrieve his body from the mountains.