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."
Comments
Even if the tipster was only hiking off-trail, I can certainly understand why he/she remained anonymous. Given the archaeological features at Mesa Verde, it appears there is no backcountry hiking and fines can be imposed.
Could have been an official person who was allowed to be hiking there but needs to remain anonymous. Sometimes illegal marijuana is found in our forests. What is interesting to me is that the person gave them tip of general location and enough information that they felt it was credible and even though whoever it was didn't give the specific location they didn't take long to find it. It's definitely mysterious. Nothing about the case makes sense. We may never know the real truth. Parks do not want a bad image as they are revenue. The family also has been unusually quiet.
Yes, I agree with what you say. My husband was a great hiker and outdoorsman that thought he was going 1/4mile to Spruce Tree House and got turned around on the trail without error. Totally human error.
I am not puzzled by any of this. Let me clarify for yall. The first 2 days the search was around the 2 public trails in the park. Once the park made it public and posted a missing poster 2 days in, a family cam forward and said Dale was on the trail with them. At that point the dogs were brought in and focused only in the area where last seen. They did extensive search for 3 more days in the area. I stayed in the park for 11 days, after the 5th day the search was scaled back to only a few Rangers. I finally left the park after several days of being told we didn't get search today. So intense search was 5 days. All focused near where last seen. Another thing many people don't realize is Mesa Verde is a restricted park so not anyone can search. Only park employees. When the dogs came in they had to have Rangers with them. I think if the dogs would have been there day 1&2 they would have found him. The dog team was there 1 day and then another team returned on July21st. So it is very misleading when they say how extensively they searched.
We can toss things back and forth all day BUT when it all boils down to it, the odd thing from someone who does investigate things for $$ is why did it need an anonymous tip after 7 years for the remains to be found. They shouldn't have needed to be via anonymous tip unless it was from a person involved in the foul play. And does anyone know if the man was ever declared dead? Funny that 7 years is just the time when you would have been able to have him declared dead anyway?
Lots of weird comments in here. I was there about 1 month after he went missing and have to say quite irresponsible for ANYONE to hike a few miles in that terrain with no water. It's literally in the middle of nowhere and my guess he got dehydrated and fell but I do find it odd that the authorities won't give more detail. Lol but to hear the comments about drugs and such is funny. Yes I guess he could have tried to go down to look for souvenirs which is highly forbidden and paid the price of stupidity.
The man simply got lost. Why is the question. His wife said he was "directionally challenged," meaning he was unable to keep track of where he was.
I've been following this for sometime. Glad the family is finally getting some closure even though it is truly heartbreaking. At the time he went missing, TWO people reported hearing calls for help but he couldn't be located. There was never any indication that drugs were involved so implying this is uncalled for. Also his family said he was an excellent experienced hiker and hiked frequently. May God bless his family.