Searchers Find Body Of Missing Hiker

The body of a missing 57-year-old Carlsbad man was found on May 31st, less than a day after park staff were notified that he was missing and possibly in the park. When the man failed to show up for work on May 29th, his supervisor asked local law enforcement officials to make a welfare check on him. On the following day, ranger Jason Gaskin was notified by the Eddy County Sheriff’s Office that the man’s vehicle had been found at the Slaughter Canyon trailhead within the park. A hasty search was conducted at 9 p.m., but a larger search was postponed until the following morning due to dangerous terrain. On May 31st, cave technician Stan Allison and hydrologist Paul Burger were searching the North Slaughter Canyon trail when they discovered the man’s body on the trail. Rangers Nate Riegelmayer and Shannon Kupersmith documented the scene and positively identified the body as that of the missing hiker. The New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator has indicated that he died of a heart attack.