[pct-l] (Guest Post) missing Sierra ranger found

[kmurray@pol.net (Ken Murray)]

* Message posted to PCT-L from the National Scenic Trails Website
* by our guest Ken Murray <kmurray@pol.net>.
* Please use <mailto:kmurray@pol.net> to reply to the sender.

I was unaware of this.  Thought others might be interested.
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3DThe Bakersfield Californian.

Remains believed to be that of missing ranger
Filed: 07/19/2001
By BRYAN SWAIM, Californian staff writer e-mail: bswaim@bakersfield.com
The remains of a park ranger who disappeared five years ago while on patrol=
 in the Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks apparently were found Sunda=
y, parks officials said. Randy Morgenson, 54, was last heard from on July 2=
0, 1996, before setting off on a back-country patrol. A note was found July=
 21 at his duty station saying he was expecting to be gone three to four da=
ys. A search was initiated for him July 25 and at its peak involved 90 peop=
le, five helicopters, and eight dog teams. No clues were found, and the sea=
rch was scaled back Aug. 2, 1996.
Almost five years to the day he was last seen, four off-duty trail crew mem=
bers found remains and a leather hiking boot in a stream drainage northeast=
 of Window Peak, a remote and trailless area of Kings Canyon National Park.=
 A pack and some equipment were also found in the same area.
Park rangers and two teams of search dogs were flown to the site Monday and=
 focused the search on the stretch of stream drainage approximately a quart=
er-mile north of a large lake east of Window Peak. Searchers located additi=
onal remains, a hand-held radio, and a park ranger uniform with a badge and=
 Morgenson's name tag on it.
Remains were sent to the Fresno County coroner for identification against d=
ental records, and results should be back within seven to 10 days. It is be=
lieved that Morgenson died from an accidental fall while attempting to cros=
s the stream.
The location where the remains were recovered was searched by rangers multi=
ple times in 1996. It is likely Morgenson's body was not seen because of th=
e high amount of runoff in the stream that summer.
Kris Fister, spokeswoman for Sequoia and Kings national parks, said the 199=
6 search was difficult emotionally for the parks staff, and although the de=
ntal records haven't yet confirmed the remains are Morgenson's, the finding=
s have brought some closure to those who knew him. "We're 99.9 percent cert=
ain the remains belong to Randy," she said.
Back country refers to the wild terrain in the sequoias accessible only by =
foot. Morgenson served as a back-country ranger in Sequoia and Kings Canyon=
 for 28 years. He lived in Arizona and worked at the park during the summer