Missing mountain biker found dead within McDowell-Sonoran Preserve in Scottsdale
Oct 12, 2024, 10:30 AM | Updated: Oct 14, 2024, 1:54 pm
(Facebook Photo/Scottsdale Police Department)
(Facebook Photo/Scottsdale Police Department)
PHOENIX — A dead man was found and recovered Friday night inside McDowell-Sonoran Preserve in Scottsdale.
Family members reported the man, whom police did not immediately identify, as missing around 5:30 p.m. after he failed to return from a mountain bike ride he embarked upon earlier in the day.
Searchers found the man’s body around 9 p.m. off-trail, far inside the preserve, near Stagecoach Pass and Boulder View Drive.
Scottsdale police and the Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office have launched an investigation into the man’s death.
According to police, initial information suggests the man’s death was related to a medical event or a mountain bike crash.
Police identified the man as 57-year-old Howard E. Lentz on Monday. The Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office is working to determine his cause of death.
The McDowell-Sonoran Preserve is a large desert habitat that includes an interconnected network of non-motorized, multi-use trails (hike/bike/horse) accessed from multiple trailhead locations.
