Officials of Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park said on Thursday that the skeletal remains discovered in the parks are believed to be those of a 27-year-old West German man who went missing nearly 40 years ago during a multi-day mountaineering trip.
On February 13, 1983, Rudi Moder, a winter mountaineer from Fort Collins, began his journey over Thunder Pass and into the park. His roommate reported him as missing on February 19, 1983.
The next day, searchers began looking for Moder, but more than a foot (30 centimetres) of fresh snow prevented them from finding any tracks or other clues right away. During the four-day search, the only major clues discovered were a food cache belonging to Moder discovered at the mouth of a canyon in the park’s northwest corner and a nearby snow cave with Moder’s sleeping bag and other gear and items inside.
A helicopter, ski and snowshoe teams and a dog trained to find people in avalanche debris were all part of the search. Additional searches were carried out in the spring and summer of that year.
A hiker discovered human remains near avalanche debris in the Skeleton Gulch area in August of 2020. The park officials said that they were unable to conduct a thorough investigation at the time due to the need to prioritise fighting two massive wildfires. The area above 11,000 feet was then blanketed in snow (3,353 meters).
Park rangers returned to the area this summer and discovered skis, poles, boots and other personal items believed to belong to Moder. The Grand County coroner’s office used dental records to try to confirm the identity of the remains, but the results were inconclusive.
Despite this, park officials said that the case was closed and that they are working with the German government to repatriate the remains.
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