WASHINGTON COUNTY, Utah, Aug. 20, 2017 (Gephardt Daily) — Hikers in Washington County found a body, believed to be that of a male, in a remote area Saturday morning, officials said Sunday.
Officials described the body as being in an advanced state of decomposition, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
The hikers found the body at about 11:30 a.m. near the Washington Hollow Trail area, which is in the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve, just north of Washington City. Washington City is just north of St. George.
Search and rescue crews recovered the body but found no evidence of the person’s identity, the statement said.
The body has been sent to the Utah Office of the Medical Examiner in Salt Lake City for further investigation and identification. At this time there is no official cause of death, and officials did not say how long the body had likely been there.
On the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve website, the Washington Hollow route is described as “only lightly visited.” The route entails a two mile hike on a city maintenance road before reaching the start of the actual trail.
“At the end of the maintenance road, hikers and equestrians will drop down into a wash bottom and follow the drainage for up to four miles before a series of dry falls makes it too difficult for most to continue,” the website says.
Gephardt Daily will have more on this developing story as information becomes available.
