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Remains Of Man Who Went Missing At Mesa Verde National Park Found

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Published Date

September 18, 2020
The remains of Mitchell Dale Stehling have been found at Mesa Verde National Park/NPS

The remains of Mitchell Dale Stehling have been found at Mesa Verde National Park/NPS

Seven years after a Texas man vanished while on a hike at Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado his remains have been found.

Mitchell Dale Stehling, 51, had set out in June 2013 for a short hike to the park's Spruce Tree House, a 130-room archaeological site with eight ceremonial chambers, known as kivas. The man's wife, Denean Stehling, speculated that her “directionally challenged” husband, hiking without water or a map on a hot and sunny day, might have been misled by a sign pointing to the Chapin Mesa Archeological Museum and inadvertently went off trail. 

A family spotted him on the nearby Petroglyph Point Trail. This 2.4-mile-long, narrow, and rocky path requires hikers to clamber in places up a stone staircase to reach the top. There are places along the trail where it wouldn’t be hard for someone to wander into the backcountry.

The family told Stehling’s wife they leapfrogged past one another and were together at the petroglyph panel 1.4 miles from the trailhead, but they never saw him afterwards. Neither did anyone else, though later there were reports from a hiker on the Petroglyph Point Trail who claimed to have heard someone calling for help.

Mesa Verde officials announced Friday that an anonymous tip led to the discovery of human remains in a remote area of the park. Park law enforcement rangers, with assistance from ISB and Montezuma County Coroner’s Office, located and retrieved the remains on Thursday.

"Personal items located with the remains are consistent with identification, and the presumptive identity of the remains is that of Mitchell Dale Stehling," the park said in a release. "DNA analysis will be performed to positively identify the remains. There is no indication of foul play. The remains were found approximately 4.2 miles from the point where Stehling was last seen."

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Comments

Submitted by D Curtis on April 26, 2024 - 7:35am.

I'm very sorry for your loss. Thanks for adding this information. 


Submitted by Anonymous on September 27, 2024 - 1:39pm.

I'm with you. It does not make any sense where they say he was found. And who was out there wondering around in a closed area of the pary and just happened to find his bones ?

 


Submitted by Witchtwo on October 21, 2024 - 3:38pm.

I am so sorry for your families loss. june 9th is my birthday so Dale's story on "Vanished" on the History Channel with Dave Paulides really hit me. I understand this was not a serious hike he went on, just a quick trip down a very busy trail. It seems like you picked up on the strangeness of the area. There is a lot of high strangeness in the area and I think your brother became part of it. I hope you, his wife and his son have some sort of closure, as much as can be expceted anyway. God Bless you all......


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