Police: Missing hiker found dead in New Mexico mountains

CHAMA, N.M. (AP) – A missing hiker who disappeared along a remote stretch of the Continental Divide was found dead at a New Mexico campground over the weekend, about six months after he last spoke with relatives.

It appeared Stephen Olshansky died from exposure, and there was no sign of foul play, New Mexico State Police said late Sunday.

A day earlier, hikers had reported seeing a body in the Carson National Forest campground east of Chama, a town near the Colorado border, but officers couldn’t reach the site because of snow drifts and impassable terrain.

They returned Sunday on all-terrain vehicles to recover Olshansky. His last known address was in Boynton Beach, Florida, said Sgt. Elizabeth Armijo, a state police spokeswoman.

The 59-year-old Olshansky was described as an experienced hiker who set out in November to follow a portion of the Continental Divide Trail near the Colorado-New Mexico border, the Ruidoso News reported in January.

A brother of Olshansky had told the newspaper then that it was unlike him to remain out of touch, leading the family to grow worried about his well-being.

Olshansky was last seen in mid-November when he was dropped off at the Cumbres Pass, and he had planned to follow the trail to Abiquiu, a scenic town known for having been a second-home to the late artist Georgia O’Keeffe, and where the hiker had mailed supplies to himself to the local post office ahead of the journey. He never picked up the supplies.

Olshansky had hiked the Appalachian, Pacific Crest and Continental Divide trails – routes that together are considered the “Triple Crown of Hiking” and can take months to complete, the newspaper reported.

The elevation of the campground where Olshansky was found is about 10,000 feet above sea level.