Dead Mt. Hood Climber Identified

Body Of Kelly James Found In Snow Cave, Search Continues For 2 Other Climbers

(CBS/AP)  A body found in a snow cave on Mount Hood by searchers looking for three missing climbers is the same climber who placed a distress call to relatives a little more than a week ago, a person close to the family and a military official said Monday.

Jessica Nunez, who is close to the family of missing climber Kelly James and has been acting as a spokeswoman, said the body is that of Kelly James. She said the information comes from James' family, and that she had talked to them.

A military official involved in the search also confirmed the body is that of James, 48, of Dallas. The official asked not to be identified.

James' mother, Lou Ann Cameron of Bryant, Ark., told the AP she did not want to comment. Reached on her cell phone, she referred queries to the Hood River County Sheriff's Office. The sheriff's office said they could not yet comment on the identity of the body.

A Chinook helicopter was preparing to fly to the snow cave, about 300 feet below Mount Hood's 11,239-foot summit, to recover the body, said Pete Hughes, a spokesman with the Hood River County Sheriff's Office.

He said other helicopters — two Blackhawks — were getting ready to fly to the mountain to search for the two climbers still missing: Brian Hall, 37, also of Dallas, and Jerry "Nikko" Cooke, 36, of New York City.

"We remain hopeful," said Capt. Mike Braibish, spokesman for the Oregon National Guard. "We are going to still collect information and pursue the rescue of the two other climbers."

Rescuers, however, acknowledge that the number of volunteer searchers is likely to drop because of the tragic discovery, reports CBS News correspondent Stephan Kaufman.

Despite his optimism, Braibish told CBS' The Early Show that "There's no single piece of evidence that gives us a clear picture."

He added that nothing was "clearly defined, but there are indicators that we continue to piece together to get a better picture."

A team of climbers who stayed overnight at a lodge about half way up the mountain will also participate in the search, Hughes said.

Hughes said the Monday search effort would center on possible descent routes on Eliot Glacier and Cooper Spur, relatively lower levels of the mountain, in case the other two got down that far.

"Eliot Glacier is real dangerous so we will do that by air only," Hughes said Monday. "It's a bad avalanche area with crevasses. There are still people in crevasses that have never been recovered."

Searchers had been trying to find the stranded climbers for a week, but they were thwarted by blizzards that kept hammering the mountain.

They got a break on Sunday, a day that was sunny and clear with diminished winds.

Searchers found a snow cave Sunday near the spot located by cell phone signals.

James called his family eight days ago saying he was waiting near the snow cave and that fellow climbers Brian Hall Jerry Cooke were going down for help, reports CBS News correspondent Jerry Bowen.

The body was found in a second snow cave near the first cave. Rescuers found two ice axes, a sleeping bag or pad and rope in the first. It was not known if any gear was in the second cave.

"When we got to it, it was pretty much filled in with drifted snow," Brian Hukari, a searcher who examined the first snow cave told The Early Show.

Of the rope found that was cut, Hukari said, "It didn't look like it was broken from a fall or anything, just looked cut for — and we couldn't figure out for what reason."

The body remained on the mountain Sunday night because darkness made it too dangerous to retrieve, rescue workers said.

Near the first snow cave, helicopters had spotted rope that had been intentionally laid out in a Y-shape, which climbers often use to indicate their location. There was also an ice spike and footprints, apparently headed up the mountain, said Sgt. Gerry Tiffany, a spokesman for the Hood River County sheriff's office.

Searchers dug through the first cave to ensure no one was there and took the equipment, which will be examined for clues. The second cave with the climber's body was found a short time later.

It was not immediately clear which cave was occupied first, or why or when the climber, or climbers, in it decided to move.

[ronmendel]

Certainly, no one else should risk their lives or property attempting to rescue those whose very sport is tempting death.