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UTAH COUNTY, Utah, March 16, 2021 (Gephardt Daily) — A body has been found in Utah County the day after air and ground crews began a search for missing hiker Bobby Healey, age 28, of Saratoga Springs.
An autopsy will be needed to positively confirm the identity of the body, but it appears to be that of Healey, according to Sgt. Spencer Cannon, public information officer for the Utah County Sheriff’s Office. Cannon said the victim appears to have fallen in rugged terrain.
“He had upper body trauma to his head and arms,” Cannon told Gephardt Daily. “It was consistent with falling from a significant height, and he was found under vertical cliffs.”
There was nothing on the scene to suggest the fall was anything other than an accident, he said.
Cannon said a fixed-wing search plane pilot reported seeing footprints in the snow, but it was a Department of Public Safety helicopter that was really able to home in on the body’s location.
“Without that, we would still be searching now, and possibly into the night.”
Cannon estimated the body was found about a mile from the parking lot, and at an elevation about 2,000 feet higher.
The body was found at about 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, he said, after about six hours of searching Monday evening, which resumed at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday.
The DPS helicopter lowered a crew member to the scene, and the body was secured and hoisted out. Cannon said it already has been transported to the Medical Examiner’s Office, where it will be examined Wednesday morning. By Wednesday night, officials hope to have a positive identification.
Family members of Healey had described him as an avid hiker, who reportedly took enough supplies for only a short hike.
Cannon said the fact that Healey had told his employer the area where he intended to hike, and the fact that officials were able to locate the victim’s’ car and ping his phone nearby all helped in the relatively fast recovery.
