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Bone Fragments Found At Glacier National Park Came From Hiker Who Vanished In 2008

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Published Date

May 30, 2012

Analysis of bone fragments found in the backcountry of Glacier National Park last summer have confirmed they came from a hiker who vanished in the park four years ago.

The search for 27-year-old Yi-Jien Hwa, of Malaysia, was launched August 20, 2008, a day after his family reported him missing. The area that was the focus of the search, south and west of Logan Pass, is rich in lakes, cliff bands made slippery by rain and snow, glaciers, glacial melt ponds, crevasses, ice and snow bridges, forests, and shaded areas near ridges with fresh snow.

Searchers spent six days looking for the man before scaling back the search.

Then, last July 3, a hiker found bits of two clothing items that matched the description of items thought to belong to Mr. Hwa. The hiker also directed rangers to an area below the steep cliffs of Avalanche Lake. More evidence was found since those initial tatters, several of which closely match the items identified in the hiker's equipment list, according to Glacier officials.

The evidence also included some bone fragments. Researchers at the National Missing Person's Program at the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification recently made a positive match of the fragments to Mr. Hwa, Glacier officials announced Wednesday.

The park has contacted Mr. Hwa’s family and closed the investigation.

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