Kyle Bufis, Missing Mount Rainier Climber, Found Dead

By    |   Monday, 15 June 2015 10:34 AM EDT ET

The two-day search for Kyle Bufis, a climber who went missing last week on Washington's Mount Rainier, was called off Saturday after his body was reportedly found near the mountain’s summit.

Bufis, 25, who had gone climbing with Derek Gavelis and Matthew Wiech, went missing late Thursday evening, according to the Daily Mail. Although the body found has not yet been officially identified, it reportedly matches a description of Bufis. The identity is expected to be confirmed by the Pierce County Medical Examiner.

According to KSL.com, the three-member team was hiking near Liberty Saddle on the north side of Mount Rainier on Thursday night when sharp winds and a thick fog descended on them and blocked their visibility, which meant the other two climbers didn't even know Bufis was missing from their group until a while later. Both Gavelis and Wiech reached Camp Schurman on Friday night unharmed.

According to the National Park Service, Mount Rainier is a 14,410-foot glacier that garners more than 10,000 visitors and climbers each year. Of those climbers, only about 5,000 successfully reach the top without giving up and turning back.

Jeff Bufis, the victim's father, told reporters that his son was a mountain climbing instructor and backpacking trip leader, as well as a trained first-aid responder specialized in wilderness safety protocol, according to KSL.com. Bufis was employed at Expedition Therapy in St. George, Utah, at the time he went missing. Jeff Bufis also said that his son had a passion for both climbing and the outdoors.

The U.S. Army Reserve 214th Air Division Chinook deployed an aerial search for Bufis while a helicopter from Airlift Northwest attempted to track any signals that could have issued forth the avalanche beacon that Bufis was believed to have been carrying, according to the Daily Mail.

Twitter, Facebook, and other social media sites have been tracking the developments in the Bufis search as users tweeted and posted their support for him and his teammates.



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TheWire
The two-day search for Kyle Bufis, a climber who went missing last week on Washington's Mount Rainier, was called off Saturday after his body was reportedly found near the mountain’s summit.
kyle bufis, climber, found, dead, missing
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2015-34-15
Monday, 15 June 2015 10:34 AM
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