Missing man from Texas fell to his death while hiking California mountain, cops say

Summer Lin
·1 min read

A missing man from Texas died after he fell while hiking California’s Mount Whitney, according to authorities.

Saulo Sifuentes Escalante, 36, of Conroe arrived on April 15 to hike Mount Whitney and was reported missing after he failed to return, the Inyo County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.

Search and rescue teams searched the area on April 19 but weren’t able to find Escalante, police said. On April 20, Kings Canyon officials obtained a search warrant to review cell phone data and found a possible location.

Using a helicopter, officials said they found Escalante dead south of the Whitney trail about 11,600 feet up the mountain “in a steep, snowy, north facing chute.”

Escalante apparently had been climbing the chute and slipped and fell, police said.

Rescuers used a steep snow climb to recover the body that afternoon, according to authorities.

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