Body Of Missing Hiker Found Near Kintla Lake

The body of a missing hiker was found by searchers along Kintla Lake in the remote North Fork area late Wednesday afternoon. The cause of death has not been confirmed at this time. Park officials were poised to release a missing person poster and seek help from the public yesterday afternoon when the man’s body was found on a slope above the trail near the head of Kintla Lake at about 5 p.m. Park personnel had recently begun investigating the circumstances surrounding the deceased man’s disappearance. The investigation had thus far focused on the area where he was last seen at the head of Kintla Lake. More than 30 people were involved in Wednesday’s search, including NPS personnel, U.S. Border Patrol agents, Flathead County Sheriff’s Office search and rescue personnel, and FBI agents. Wednesday’s operation involved both ground and aerial search efforts throughout the Kintla Lake and Upper Kintla Lake drainages and surrounding areas for clues to the man’s whereabouts. Initial NPS search efforts began on October 23rd after the man failed to call for a pickup from an acquaintance, as expected. The man had flown to Flathead Valley on October 7th.  The next day, he was dropped off in the park’s North Fork area near Kintla Lake. He was contacted by a park ranger that day at the Kintla Lake campground, where he planned to spend the night.  He told the ranger he intended to go hiking in the park and was advised that a backcountry permit would be required to camp overnight in the backcountry. He was gone the next morning.  Park staff have had no other contact with the man since the morning of October 9th. He did not obtain a backcountry permit. Late last week, park officials were contacted by the acquaintance who’d dropped the man off in the park on October 8th. The missing man had left luggage and belongings at an area hotel and indicated that he would be in contact in a couple of weeks. The acquaintance became concerned when there was no word from him after two weeks and called the park.  Prior to this notification, the NPS had received no notification or indication that the man was missing. After frontcountry campgrounds were checked throughout the park on Friday and Saturday, an initial aerial and ground search was conducted on Sunday by park personnel, who hiked and searched the main trail corridors in the vicinity of Kintla Lake, including the Bowman Lake drainage, and the trail system leading to Goat Haunt, but no clues or evidence were found. “Details of the man’s intended plans were very sketchy,” said IC Patrick Suddath. “All we knew was that he had told acquaintances that he intended to travel into Glacier’s backcountry for anywhere from one to four weeks, that he knew there was a permit requirement, and that he did not obtain a permit.” The man’s name is being withheld pending notification of family.