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Around 8:40 Thursday morning, a hiker attempting to summit Mount Hood found the body of a deceased man rescuers believe may be missing hiker David Yaghmourian.
Search and rescue teams have been scouring the mountain for Yaghmourian since Tuesday, Oct. 9.
Clackamas County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Sgt. Sean Collinson says the body was found around 3,000 feet above the team's search radius—indicating the lost hiker, in a state of fatigue, may have wandered up the mountain in error.
Live update on missing Mt. Hood hikerLive: Update on missing climber at Mt. Hood. A dead body in the proximity of where the hiker was presumed to be possibly missing has been found but authorities have not announced a positive identification yet. Story: https://on.kgw.com/2pQiEhe
Posted by KGW-TV on Thursday, October 11, 2018
"It looks like, from what we've seen," Collinson said in a statement today, "he missed a turn and then continued up the mountain and was trying to find a way to get back across so that he could come back down."
Collinson adds the the body of the deceased hiker is currently being examined and has not yet been confirmed to be Yaghmourian.
Yaghmourian, 30, is a Phoenix, Ariz., resident who was hiking the Timberline Trail for the first time on Oct. 9 with a friend. It was originally stated in a sheriff's report that after Yaghmourian sustained a leg injury, his friend continued down the mountain to wait for him at the lodge.
Collinson says rescuers have learned since that Yaghmourian was likely not injured, but suffering only from fatigue, and became lost trying to descend the mountain when weather turned foul.
The body recovered today was found with a tent and sleeping bag that appear to have been belongings of Yaghmourian's.
Yaghmourian's family has been alerted to the discovery of the body, and are awaiting identification by the Clackamas County medical examiner.
"We absolutely wanted a different result," Collinson says. "We really wanted somebody to be found alive. At least we can give the family back, whoever this person turns out to be, we can give that family back their loved one."
Update, 4:35 pm: Dan Kraus, a Clackamas County Sheriff's Office spokesperson tells the Oregonian that the deceased hiker is Yaghmourian. An autopsy revealing the exact cause of death still pending.