CORBETT, Ore. — The Multnomah County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) has identified a hiker who was found dead at the bottom of a cliff near the trailhead of the Angel's Rest Trail in the Columbia River Gorge on Aug. 24.
MCSO identified the hiker as 20-year-old Kriss Arturo Garcia of Tualatin. The medical examiner ruled his death to be accidental.
At around 1:50 p.m. Wednesday, a hiker called in to report that they thought they saw a body at the bottom of the cliff. An off-duty Portland Mountain Rescue member was hiking on the trail and went to the area to confirm the report and that the hiker was dead.
A team from Multnomah County Search & Rescue was activated and deployed around 4:30 p.m. to recover the body. They found the hiker's body about 2.5 miles from the trailhead but were initially unable to recover the body because of challenging terrain.
The team and a sheriff's office deputy spent Wednesday night at the top of Angels Rest and were joined Thursday morning by a second search and rescue team and the Hood River Crag Rats.
Around 2:30 p.m., crews returned the hiker's body to the trailhead parking lot. MCSO said that the county Medical Examiner's office was on-scene.
In all, the recovery effort took 22 hours. A high-angle rescue litter was required to hoist the body back up to the top of the trail, followed by the hike back down to the parking area.
