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Searchers find body of missing man on Longs Peak

Lance Maggart
lmaggart@skyhidailynews.com

Helicopter search efforts helped locate the body of Peter Jeffris on Thursday 200 feet below the Ledges on the Keyhole Route of Longs Peak.

A Rocky Mountain National Park Search and Rescue Team was flown to a landing spot in the Glacier Gorge drainage. The four team members then climbed approximately 1,800 vertical feet to where Jeffris was found.

His body was flown from the scene to a landing spot at Upper Beaver Meadows at approximately 4 p.m. and transferred to the Boulder County coroner.



Search and rescue efforts continued Wednesday and Thursday to find the missing hiker, 25, of Broomfield, with no reports of sightings until late Thursday afternoon.

Weather conditions on Thursday allowed rescuers to conduct aerial searches, allowing for the coverage of larger areas and higher elevations that have not previously been searched because of the extreme weather conditions.



Jeffris was first reported missing Monday morning when he did not show up for work. His car was found in the Longs Peak Trailhead parking lot. Representatives from the National Park Service (NPS) reported Jeffris informed friends he was considering going up the Cables Route on the north face. NPS also reports Jeffris was not prepared to spend the night.

This has already been a deadly year for Longs Peak. Two other young men perished after falling from trails while attempting to ascend the mountain.

Matt Burklow’s body was found approximately 1,000 feet below the Keyhole Route down the Trough on June 9. The Fort Collins man was 24 years old.

Nicholas Hellbusch, 18, of Lenexa, Kan., was found after a fall near the Ledges Keyhole Route on July 25.


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