A University Place hiker missing in the Cascade foothills near North Bend was found dead Monday.
Searchers scouring the Green Mountain area spotted the body of John Wright, 50, about 3 p.m. at the 3,400-foot level.
“It looks like he more than likely fell a few hundred feet,” King County sheriff’s Sgt. Cindi West said. “We don’t know if he tripped or the slab gave way, but he didn’t survive the fall.”
The terrain in that area is punishing. There is no marked trail most of the way up the 4,600-foot peak, which requires hikers to scramble over large talus fields and inch through snow up the steep slope.
Wright was reported missing Friday, after he failed to pick up his 10-year-old daughter. His 2008 Nissan SUV was found near a trailhead at the middle fork of the Snoqualmie River. Searchers honed in on the Green Mountain area after another hiker reported speaking with Wright about his hiking plans.
“We believe he might have taken a new trail that was starting to be developed,” West said.
Crews were expected to use a helicopter to hoist Wright’s body off the mountain Monday, but were eyeing an approaching thunderstorm.
Wright graduated from Puyallup High School in 1980 and Western Washington University in 1986. He worked at the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department.
stacia.glenn@thenewstribuine253-597-8653
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