By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
A body found below a lookout in the southern part of Mount Rainier National Park is as yet unidentified but authorities suspect it may be linked to a missing person report from an undisclosed area.
A search initiated yesterday morning with ground crews and a helicopter located the body at the base of a cliff below Ricksecker Point, a dramatic lookout between Longmire and Paradise, according to a park spokesperson.
Rangers had been investigating a vehicle parked for several days at the lookout and found identification inside it which they linked to a missing person report, spokesperson Patti Wold said today. Wold wouldn’t say where that person was missing from.
She said the incident is under investigation by park service law enforcement.
The body was removed by helicopter and delivered to the Lewis County Coroner’s Office who said today identification is still pending.
The injuries are consistent with a fall from a great height, according to Wold.
Ricksecker Point has no snow this time of year, according to Wold.
“You wouldn’t really start a hike there, it’s a place you’d stop to take in the view,” she said.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter