Missing Sedona man appears to fall to death

PHOENIX — A hiker’s body is being recovered after being reported missing earlier in the week.

The 38-year-old man from Sedona has not been identified publicly by the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office until he is returned to his family.

The YCSO took a welfare check after the victim didn’t show up for work, which was considered “unusual,” according to a report released Friday. The man’s roommate said he was an active hiker and his car was later found at the Bell Rock parking lot in Sedona.

Upon arrival, authorities pinged the man’s cell phone and found he was in the area, but concern grew when he had not surfaced by that evening. An Arizona Department of Public Safety Ranger helicopter was enlisted, but darkness made it difficult to conduct a search.

The Back Country Search and Rescue Search Dog Unit and Verde Search and Rescue conducted a search Friday at 6 a.m. The Verde team was able to get high on the mountain and search down into the mountain when it spotted something. After hiking down, they found the missing hiker. The section he was in was, according to the report, “extremely technical” and appears the victim slipped and fell to his death.