ALAMOGORDO, N.M — A hiker was found dead at White Sands National Park after going missing on the Fourth of July, multiple media outlets reported.
Search and rescue teams found the body of 63-year-old Jeffrey Minshew of Moriarty, New Mexico, off-trail at around 4:40 p.m. Monday, the Alamogordo Daily News reported.
Minshew’s abandoned vehicle was found inside the park at around 11 p.m. Sunday, prompting a search by White Sands National Park rangers. Officials believe that Minshew entered the park earlier that day at about 1 p.m., KOB reported.
New Mexico State Police were joined in the search by New Mexico Search and Rescue, United States Border Patrol and other agencies, the Daily News reported.
According to KOB, a rescue team found Minshew’s footprints and tracked them for half a mile before finding his body.
The last reported death at the park was in 2019, KRQE reported.
We spent most of the day cutting for sign at White Sands searching for a person who didn't return to their vehicle...
Posted by Organ Mountain Technical Rescue Squad on Monday, July 5, 2021
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