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Hikers discover body on Cascade Creek
Herald Staff Writer
Photo by NICK MANNING/Herald
Joe Eppler, right, a member of San Juan County Search and Rescue, and an unidentified partner man a rescue litter as they hike on the Purgatory Trail on Sunday afternoon during a body-recovery operation.
The body was found on the creek about a 45-minute hike from the trailhead for Purgatory Trail, said Butch Knowlton, director of emergency preparedness for La Plata County.
Although the identity of the person was not known, Knowlton said it could be a man who was the subject of a search-and-rescue mission in the Cascade Creek area last October.
Jeffery C. Kelley, 48, was last heard from in late September and had been living near Lime Creek, not far from the Cascade turn on U.S. Highway 550, north of Purgatory in San Juan County.
At the time, rescue workers located his camp but never were able to find Kelley. San Juan and La Plata County search-and-rescue teams helped with the search, and the Dolores Dog Team also assisted.
On Sunday morning, hikers spotted the body and alerted authorities. Rescue teams from La Plata and San Juan counties were working on the recovery effort throughout the day.
Knowlton said the body would be taken to Hood Mortuary in Durango, and an autopsy would be performed to determine the cause of death.
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