She Disappeared While Hiking Alone In July And Her Body Unfortunately Was Found 2 Days Ago
Red Lodge, Montana. 23-year-old Tatum Morell was a very experienced hiker who set out for a solo hike on July 1st. That afternoon, Tatum headed for the West Fork Trail Head.
At 8 p.m. that evening, she spoke to her mom via her InReach device, which is a portable satellite phone.
Unfortunately, her loved ones stopped hearing from her after that and she was reported as missing.
“It is believed that she left her campsite at Shadow Lake on Friday morning to climb one of the 12000’ peaks in the area and never returned,” Red Lodge Fire Rescue explained in a Facebook post shortly after her disappearance.
Although authorities were able to locate Tatum’s camping area, they couldn’t find her anywhere.
Facebook; pictured above is Tatum
In the nearly two months since Tatum disappeared, there have been multiple searches for her conducted across the area that didn’t yield any results or clues.
Sadly, 2 days ago Red Lodge Fire Rescue shared an update that Tatum’s body had been found by a few people climbing in the area.
“Rescuers believe that Tatum was climbing Whitetail Peak when she was caught in a significant rock slide and suffered fatal injuries,” Red Lodge Fire Rescue wrote.
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“The area where she was located had been searched numerous times by rescue crews. However, due to the fact that Tatum was mostly buried under rocks, she was extremely difficult to find.”
“After almost two months of extensive search efforts, we are relieved that she is able to be returned to her family,” Assistant Chief Jon Trapp from Red Lodge Fire Rescue said.
“The effort volunteers put into finding Tatum surpassed anything I’ve seen in my 17 years with Search and Rescue operations; it was absolutely incredible.”
A rescue team recovered Tatum from the difficult area where she was found and they had her flown to the Red Lodge Airport, where Tatum’s family was waiting.
Facebook; recovery teams and members of the Red Lodge Fire Rescue stand by as Tatum is brought to the airport
More About:Human Interest
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