A final text message sent by a hiker saying he was on his way down a mountain became his last known communication before he died in a fall. Brian Seibert, 53, had sent the message hours before suffering a fatal fall after summiting the 13,000-foot Mount Morgan in California. His body was recovered more than 72 hours after he fell from a cliff ledge near the base of Grand Central Couloir, reported NYPost.
Another team that had been following a single set of tracks descending the couloir then moved towards the location and found Seibert. Mono County Search and Rescue, a volunteer wilderness rescue team, said the Schooner crew identified the anomaly shortly after 2 pm.
The rescue team explained that the area between Seibert’s location and the nearest landing zone was extremely difficult to navigate. As a result, there was not enough time to complete the recovery safely that day. Seibert sent the message at around 7 pm on Sunday, October 4, informing others that he was on his way down. However, he did not return as expected by around 11:30 pm, prompting the Mono County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Team to respond to a report of his disappearance on Monday, October 5. The search involved investigators and local experts, who pieced together evidence using photo topographic matching, extensive mobile phone forensics and a search of Seibert’s vehicle by a K-9 team. On Tuesday, October 6, the search team spotted something unusual from the air near the bottom of Grand Central Couloir, a prominent gully on the eastern side of the mountain near its summit.
