Search and rescue teams recovered the body of Neil Gehring in Olympic National Park on the evening of Sept. 13, ending the search for the 26-year-old man who was reported overdue nearly two weeks earlier.
Gehring had left the Madison Falls Trailhead on Aug. 31 with plans to spend one night on a cross-country traverse from Boulder Lake to Appleton Pass. He was reported overdue at 6:30 a.m. on Sept. 2, and teams began searching soon after.
The recovery came after searchers received and analyzed additional cell phone location data, which helped narrow the search area to the northwest slope of Mount Appleton. In a park as large and rugged as Olympic National Park, that kind of data can turn a wide, uncertain hunt into a specific place to check.
What makes the case harder to close is what was not released. No additional information was given about how Gehring died, even after his remains were transferred to the Clallam County Coroner’s Office.
For now, the search is over, but the central question remains unanswered: what happened to Gehring between the trailhead on Aug. 31 and the recovery nearly two weeks later.
