Searchers spot a body on Hood

PORTLAND (AP) — Authorities searching for a climber who has been missing on Mount Hood since last weekend said Saturday that they spotted a body near the top of a glacier.

Oregon Army National Guard Blackhawk helicopter crews made the discovery at an altitude of about 8,400 feet, the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.

The sheriff’s office said officials believe there’s a high probability that the body belongs to Kinley Adams, 59, a Salem, Ore., dentist who failed to return June 22 from a climb on the west side of Oregon’s tallest mountain.

The terrain is extremely difficult; avalanche risk in warming weather prevented rescue teams from climbing to the upper part of the 11,239-foot peak.

Authorities couldn’t reach the body Saturday, but teams will begin to try to reach it early today.

Adams, an experienced climber who had been making frequent trips to Mount Hood in preparation for a trip to Nepal, is thought to have a cellphone, but searchers have been unable to pinpoint the signal. His mountain locator beacon was found at home, apparently with gear he was planning to take to Nepal.

His vehicle was found on the mountain at Timberline Lodge.