LONGMIRE – A Mukilteo man who died on Mount Rainier apparently became disoriented, lost the trail and was trying to return to the trailhead before he died, officials said today.
Rescue crews spent about two days looking for Devin Ossman, 45, after they found his car at the Kautz Creek trailhead Monday night near Longmire on Mount Rainier, said Kevin Bacher, a National Park Service spokesman.
His body was recovered just after 11 this morning, Bacher said.
It appeared that Ossman was trying to make his way back to the trailhead when he likely became hypothermic and died, Bacher said.
There were no obvious signs of trauma but crews did see evidence on the snow-covered route that Ossman stumbled and tripped many times, likely a result of being hypothermic, he said.
Crews expected to spend the day working to bring Ossman’s body out of the backcountry.
Ossman was reported missing to Mukilteo police by his wife on Monday. He was not believed to be equipped for overnight stays in the backcountry and went hiking in the snow without snowshoes, Taylor said.
He is the first person to die on Mount Rainier since December, when a Brier man was buried in a snowslide near Panorama Point, Bacher said.
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