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Minnesota man found dead after going missing while hiking in Wyoming nearly 1 month ago

By
Riley Moser
Digital Producer, CBS Minnesota
Riley Moser is a digital producer who covers breaking news and feature stories for CBS Minnesota. Riley started her career at CBS Minnesota in June 2022 and earned an honorable mention for sports writing from the Iowa College Media Association the same year.
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Riley Moser

/ CBS Minnesota

A Minnesota hiker who went missing earlier this month in Wyoming's Bighorn Mountains has been found dead, officials say.

Big Horn County Sheriff Ken Blackburn says Grant Gardner was found in the Cloud Peak Wilderness on Tuesday.

A professional climbing team from North Carolina summited Cloud Peak and descended on the northern route of the peak. While making a camp for the evening, the climbers noticed a "slight reflection a few hundred feet above them underneath a ledge," according to the sheriff's office. The team was confident it was a backpack.

The team notified law enforcement about their finding and waited for teams to arrive at daylight.

Once the SAR Team arrived, Gardner's remains were located near the backpack. He was wearing clothing that "very closely matched the terrain he was climbing in," authorities said.

The sheriff's office says the recovery of Gardner was difficult and dangerous, and he is being brought home to his family.

The Big Horn County Coroner's Office will determine the time, manner and cause of death for Gardner.

"We believe Gardner succumbed to a tragic accident as we all have surmised," Blackburn said.

The search for Gardner began on Aug. 1 and was suspended last week.

Gardner planned a three-day hike through the Misty Moon Lake area and summited Cloud Peak on July 29. He texted his wife at the summit to let her know he made it, but the climb was "more taxing than he expected," according to the sheriff's office.

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