Missing hiker found dead at Spur Cross Ranch in Cave Creek
Sep 28, 2022, 11:25 AM
(Maricopa County Sheriff's Office and Facebook/Spur Cross Ranch Conservation Area Photos)
PHOENIX – A Valley woman who went missing over the weekend was found dead in the Spur Cross Ranch Conservation Area on Wednesday morning, authorities said.
A volunteer searcher found the body of Kathleen Patterson, 60, off trail in the popular Cave Creek hiking destination around 8 a.m., the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office said.
MCSO said there were no apparent signs of foul play.
Patterson had last been seen leaving her residence to go hiking at 7:30 a.m. Sunday. She called her family at 10:30 that morning but hadn’t been heard from since.
MCSO issued a missing person bulletin on Sunday night that said Patterson’s car was found in the trailhead parking lot.
No other details were immediately available.
Patterson was the second person to die this month while hiking at Spur Cross Ranch, a 2,154-acre county park about 40 miles north of downtown Phoenix.
On Sept. 5, Labor Day, one person died and five others were rescued from area’s hiking trails after suffering from heat emergencies.