Photo: Google Earth
A 37-year-old skier was found dead at the Solitude Mountain Resort in Salt Lake City, Utah, one day after being reported missing.
The skier, identified as Devon O'Connell, of Cottonwood Heights, initially went up the mountain to ski with a friend on Monday (December 14).
The friend was reported to have left O'Connell at around 10:30 a.m. before O'Connell had hopped back on a ski lift for another run at around noon.
Police confirmed that O'Connell's body was located by search and rescue crews Tuesday (December 13) morning.
“He was found at about 8:15 (a.m.), just off of the Sensation ski run in some trees,” said Unified Police Department spokesperson Melody Cutler via NBC local affiliate KSL.
Police said O'Connell was last seen when he hopped on the ski lift at around noon local time.
The 37-year-old was expected home before 2:00 p.m. on Monday, which led to his wife calling Solitude Ski Patrol after her husband hadn't returned.
Salt Lake County search and rescue, Solitude and Brighton ski patrols and the Utah Police Department's Canyon Patrol all responded to the resort in relation to the search for O'Connell Monday night.
O'Connell's car was spotted at the resort's parking lot and his cell phone pinged to a location on the mountain during the search efforts.
Crews paused all search efforts due to rough conditions at around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday before resuming at 7:00 a.m. and locating O'Connell's body about an hour later.
O'Connell, known to be an expert skier, was wearing a helmet at the time of his death, according to Cutler.