Missing hiker found dead in Superstition Mountains
Feb 27, 2016, 10:27 AM | Updated: 11:04 pm
Pinal County Sheriff’s deputies on Saturday said they found the body of a missing hiker they had been searching for in the Superstition Mountains since Friday afternoon.
The body has been identified as 25-year-old local Phoenix resident Brian Head.
Brian’s mother reported him missing around 4:00 p.m. Friday afternoon. His mother, who lives in Dallas, told officials her son frequently goes base jumping, but always checks in before and after the jumps.
“He died what appears to be a fall, he was off the main trail,” Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu told KTAR. “He fell off a cliff of 100 feet. From the mechanisms of his injuries, it’s clear that he died nearly instantly.”
Sheriff Babeu said the body was found at 8:15 Saturday morning.
“He did have his parachute with him, but it was not on his person. We are believing that it is more likely that he lost his footing, he wasn’t familiar with the area, which is what his mother had told us, and he simply fell.”
Deputies found his vehicle Friday near a restaurant by Lost Dutchman State Park.
Search and rescue teams from Pinal and Maricopa counties were conducting air and ground searches.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
