Fri 15 Sep 2017. 18:05 A search call-out was issued for a missing person on Mount Bogong. A North-East BSAR team of three ascended Staircase spur during the night.
Sat 16 Sep 2017.
- Sixteen BSAR searchers departed from Melbourne by bus at 2 a.m and met another two North East members at search base at Mount Beauty Police Station.
- Six BSAR teams and Police SAR members ascended Mount Bogong, searched all day then camped out overnight in tents and huts. Conditions on ridges and slopes were icy. There were concerns about avalanche hazard due to recent snowfall and wind.
Sun 17 Sep 2017. Searching commenced at 7 a.m in good weather.
- A team on snowshoes searched down to and around Howmans Falls south of Cleve Cole hut.
- Another team on snowshoes searched along the ridge to the West Peak
- A specialist Steep Snow and Ice team searched gullies close to Eskdale Spur
- Three specialist Steep Snow and Ice teams searched ridge lines descending east from Tadgell Point. One of these teams located the missing person deceased at around 9 a.m.
- A Police Air Wing helicopter retrieved the missing person
- BSAR teams and Police SAR descended Eskdale Spur and were transported back to Mount Beauty by Police and SES 4WD vehicles.
- BSAR members from Melbourne returned in the afternoon.
External links
- Elderly hiker missing in Victoria’s Alps for two days sparks search – ABC News
- Leslie Southwell: elderly hiker found dead in Victoria alpine region – Herald Sun
- Body of missing elderly hiker found in Victorian Alpine area near tent – ABC News
- Leslie Southwell: elderly hiker found dead in Victoria alpine region – News.com.au
- Body found in search for hiker, 88, missing on Victoria’s highest peak – The Age
- Mount Bogong hiker honoured for decades of environmental passion – The Border Mail
