A body found on a remote mountain in southwest China on
Wednesday has been confirmed as that of missing US climber Charlie
Fowler, said a local mountaineering association source on
Saturday.
The body was jointly identified by both Chinese and US
rescuers.
Fowler, 52, and fellow climber Christine Boskoff, 39, had
disappeared since November and failed to catch their return flights
home on Dec. 7.
Liu Feng, a liaison worker with the Sichuan Mountaineering
Association, said rescuers had found no signs of Boskoff, despite a
thorough search within a radius of 20 to 30 meters from the
body.
The body was moved to the county site of Litang, and would be
taken to Kangting in two days, capital of Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous
Prefecture, for cremation, said Liu.
Representatives from the US Consulate-General in Chengdu,
Sichuan's provincial capital, and officials from the Sichuan
provincial government have arrived at the county site to deal with
the remaining issues.
The body was found around 5:00?PM Wednesday at an altitude
of 5,300 meters on 6,204-meter-high Genyen Mountain in Sichuan Province.
The upper part of the body was mainly buried in snow, but the
legs remained exposed. The cause of death was likely to have been
an avalanche, said Liu.
The luggage of the missing US climbers was found by rescuers at
a remote village in Lamaya Town near Genyen Mountain during
door-to-door inquiries on Dec. 22.
(Xinhua News Agency December 31, 2006)