Trail of discarded clothing leads rescuers to missing hiker’s body, Arizona cops say

A Tennessee man was found dead three days after he went missing during a hike on an Arizona mountain, officials said.

Pierre Romelus, a 50-year-old from La Vergne, Tennessee, was reported missing Feb. 1 after his wife hadn’t heard from him, the Graham County Sheriff’s Office in Arizona said.

“She had not heard from her husband … since Jan. 31, when he told her he planned to hike to the Scope on Mt. Graham,” deputies said in a news release. “A Facebook post … included a photo of (Romelus) on the mountain with the Scope in the background.”

Mount Graham is one of the highest peaks in Arizona, at 10,720 feet. It’s about 145 miles northeast of Tucson.

Deputies began searching for Romelus and found his truck abandoned on Feb. 1 and rescuers found a line of tracks.

Officials followed the tracks and checked cabins in the area for Romelus. However, bad weather on Feb. 2 prevented rescuers from searching for Romelus by helicopter, the sheriff’s office said.

“Weather also stalled the ground search due to difficult conditions,” officials said. “The search had to be suspended due to darkness and weather conditions.”

Rescuers resumed their search on Feb. 3, when they spotted a line of tracks while searching from a helicopter.

Some officials were dropped off to follow the tracks. Along the way, officials found discarded clothing items.

The line of clothing and tracks led rescuers to Romelus’s body. He was found dead in the Grant Creek area three days after he was seen last.

The body was taken off the mountain and sent to the county medical examiner for an autopsy.

This story was originally published February 10, 2022 at 11:52 AM with the headline "Trail of discarded clothing leads rescuers to missing hiker’s body, Arizona cops say."