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The unidentified Brooklyn man's body was found in Ulster County at the Mohonk Preserve in Marbletown, on Friday, March 17, by rescuers who had been searching the steep, rocky terrain for three days after his vehicle was found in the parking lot of the preserve, said Jeff Wernick of the New York Department of Conservation.
Once the man's vehicle was found, 10 forest rangers joined state police, Mohonk Preserve patrol rangers, Sam’s Point Search and Rescue, and Marbletown Rescue in the search.
According to Wernick, the hiker left his home on Saturday, March 11, and did not report to work the following Monday, March 13, or Tuesday, March 14.
His daughter was the last person to hear from him by phone before he began a solo hike in the Bonticou Crag area, Wernick said.
The search effort was made more difficult by the steep, rocky, technical terrain, and the recent snowstorm, he added.
On Friday, March 17 at 10:15 a.m., searchers located the hiker’s backpack and cell phone at the base of a 50-foot cliff. At 4:32 p.m., searchers found the man dead, some 400 feet away from the presumed fall site, Wernick said.
The body was turned over to the Ulster County Medical Examiner’s Office.
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