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SILVERTON, Colo. (AP) -- Crews who spent days looking for a 29-year-old Salt Lake City hiker found his body Friday on Vestal Peak in southern Colorado, San Juan County Sheriff Sue Kurtz said.
Brent Higgins apparently suffered a fall, likely of 1,000 feet or more, Kurtz said.
Higgins had set out for a five-mile hike across the Animas River to the Grenadier Range while his wife, Shannon, and their son stayed at their campsite near Lake Molas off U.S. 550. He was reported missing Monday after failing to meet up with his family as planned Sunday.
Searchers got a better clue of where Higgins might be Friday after citizens turned in a camera they had found, with pictures of Higgins stored on it.
"We looked at the pictures on the memory card, and on the memory card was his wife and baby and him," Kurtz said. "So we immediately redistributed our search and rescue resources and started an intense search."
About 35 people searched for Higgins on Friday and found his body on Vestal Peak, about 10 miles south of Silverton, around 1 p.m., Kurtz said. His body was taken to a mortuary in Durango.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
