Body Of Missing Hiker Found

Yellowstone National Park (ID,MT,WY)
Body Of Missing Hiker Found

Last Thursday morning, searchers discovered the body of a young man who went on a solo hike to a mountain peak in northwest Yellowstone Tuesday and failed to return. The last contact with 23-year-old Joseph Austin Parker was a cell phone call he made to friends about 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Parker told his friends he was below the summit of Electric Peak, and that he was starting to descend the mountain because of nearby lightning. Parker was reported missing by a friend about 7:30 p.m. Tuesday and a search was begun the next day. It involved an aerial search by both airplane and helicopter and ground search by teams in 4-wheel drive vehicles, on horseback, and on foot. No clues on his whereabouts were found.

Parker’s body was discovered below the summit of Electric Peak shortly after the search resumed Thursday morning. The cause of death is under investigation. Originally from Valdosta, Georgia, Parker was working at a local Gardiner, Montana, business. Electric Peak is a nearly 11,000 foot mountain in the Gallatin Range, located west of Gardiner, Montana, in the northwest portion of the park.

The National Park Service worked closely with a variety of agencies and landowners, including the Park County Sheriff’s Office in conducting the search.