A Colorado hiker missing since August was found dead — but his dog had survived and remained by his side.
The discovery was reported by Taos Search and Rescue, which had participated in the initial search for Rich Moore, a 71-year-old man from Pagosa Springs, in southern Colorado.
Moore was reported missing on Aug. 19 after heading out with his Jack Russell terrier, Finney, to hike up Blackhead Peak, in the mountains east of his home. A team brought in by helicopter searched from the peak west toward the trailhead where his car was parked but did not find him.
On Oct. 30, a hunter in the Rio Blanco drainage 2½ miles east of the peak found the body, with the dog nearby. Finney was taken to a veterinarian to be checked out and then was reunited with Moore’s family, the Denver Gazette reported.
Moore’s cause of death had not yet been determined, the Archuleta County sheriff’s office told the Gazette.
The hiking route to Blackhead’s 12,500-foot summit is 3 miles, with elevation gain of 2,500 feet, hiker reports say. It starts on a road, but the last stretch is an unmaintained “social trail.”
