LONGMIRE, Wash. — A body matching the description of a missing climber was recovered on Mount Rainier Tuesday.
Dawes Eddy, 80, of Spokane was hiking Rainier for the 50th time to celebrate his birthday and was expected to summit the mountain and hike out May 30. He told park officials he was hiking alone and was taking the Ingraham Direct route, which the park said is part of the most popular climbing route on the volcano.
Eddy didn’t return home by the evening of May 31, and his family called 911.
The call was routed to Mount Rainier National Park, and crews began a “hasty” search focusing on the areas where Eddy may have been, according to a national park spokesperson.
Over the following days, the search extended further from that area and included ground crews and a helicopter. The Army National Guard did an infrared sweep using its Black Hawk helicopter on June 3 about 2 a.m. looking for body heat but didn’t find anything.
On June 5, Crews located an unresponsive climber in a crevasse at about 11,500 feet. Ground crews went up to the mountain on June 6 to extricate the climber. The climber was deceased when a team of four climbing rangers and a Ranier Mountaineering guide were able to reach them. The climber was flown off the mountain and is in the care of the Pierce County Medical Examiner.
The medical examiner will confirm whether or not the body recovered was Eddy.
"What we hope is to bring some kind of closure to the family," said Patti Wold, a Mount Rainier National Park interpretive media specialist. "That's always, you know, our goal whether it's whatever kind of closure it might be."
Thousands of people attempt to climb Mount Rainier each year with climbing traffic picking up significantly in May, according to the national park. Solo permits are declined or approved based on the climber's experience level, plan, forecasted weather, proposed route, dates and equipment list. The park advises climbers to leave their itinerary with a trusted friend or family member.