Colorado authorities said Wednesday that a man was found dead at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park last week after deputies located an abandoned vehicle near the park.
The Montrose County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) said the man’s body was discovered on the canyon floor. Many trails in the park follow steep cliffs rising roughly 2,000 feet, while access to the inner canyon is limited.
Officials identified the hiker as John N. Countryman, 57, of Denver, in a Facebook post.
A creek flows through Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park on July 29, 2020. Authorities identified a Denver man whose body was found in a remote section of the canyon last week. (RJ Sangosti/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images/File)
Deputies were alerted around 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 27 to an “abandoned vehicle parked near mile marker 10 along the South Rim of Black Canyon,” the sheriff’s office said.
Investigators also found personal belongings near Devil’s Lookout, one of the park’s highest and steepest viewing areas.
Two visitors take in the view from a high overlook in Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, near where the Montrose County Sheriff’s Office recovered a body last week. (RJ Sangosti/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images)
The sheriff’s office deployed its drone team to search the canyon for a possible missing person linked to the vehicle.
The search was suspended before nightfall because of “diminishing daylight,” authorities said.
At about 6:30 a.m. the next day, the drone team resumed its work and “confirmed the presence of human remains on the canyon floor.”
Countryman’s body was recovered two days later and taken to the Montrose County Coroner’s Office.
The cause and manner of his death have not been determined and remain under investigation.
The sun sets over Black Canyon at Gunnison National Park near the area where the Montrose County Sheriff’s Office recovered a body last week. (Universal Images Group via Getty Images/File)
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park in western Colorado is marked by narrow, sheer-walled gorges carved by the Gunnison River. Its dramatic cliffs and rugged landscape can make search-and-rescue operations especially difficult.
