THREE bodies have tragically been found in Glacier National Park this week.
A group of campers have heard cries for help after a Florida man fell to his death while hiking with friends in Montana.
2
2
A 79-year-old man was attempting to climb a steep off-road slope with a group of friends on Monday morning when he fell.
The incident occurred several hundred feet above Two Medicine Campground on Rising Wolf Mountain, the National Park Service said in a statement.
The man’s friends descended on his location where they screamed for help and called 911.
Glacier County then diverted the call to Glacier National Park staff who heard nearby campers screaming for help.
Two Bear Air was diverted from a separate incident to transport the unconscious Florida man to Two Medicine Ranger Station where ALERT was standing by for patient care.
The man was pronounced dead by ALERT staff.
On the very day of this tragedy, NPS personnel released the identities of two bodies found in the park in Montana.
Brian McKenzie Kennedy, 67, and Jack Dewayne Beard, also 67, were killed in a rock climbing accident on Dusty Star Mountain this week.
Kennedy and Beard began the trip July 21 with plans to hike July 22.
They were reported missing on July 24 and authorities found their vehicle still at the trailhead.
Kennedy and Beard were considered expert climbers and climbed Glacier Mountain peaks for decades, according to park staff who knew the men personally.
Park officials began an aerial search in the Dusty Star Mountain area on the East Side Approach Road the day they were reported missing.
Two Bear Air flew through daylight and darkness in search of the two seasoned climbers.
Minuteman Aviation resumed the aerial search and located the bodies on the morning of July 25.
Two Bear Air picked up the bodies later that day.
“As longtime members, both men contributed greatly to the Glacier Mountaineering Society and were well known in the Flathead Valley community,” the National Park Service wrote.
“The park staff would like to express their deepest condolences to the family.”
the-sun