Body of Missing Climber Found Over 2 Decades Later

(RepublicanView.org) – An American man’s body has been found in Peru more than two decades after he went missing. Friends reported that 59-year-old William Stampfl disappeared after an avalanche while climbing Peru’s highest mountain, Mount Huascarán, in 2002. Stampfl embarked on the journey with two friends, Steve Erskine and Matthew Richardson, hoping to reach the top of the mountain, but met with tragedy on June 24 when an avalanche sent snow and ice rolling down the 22,000-foot high Huascaran mountain in the Cordillera-Blanca range of the Andes.

Peruvian police say they identified Stampfl’s remains, which were preserved in ice, as his passport was among his possessions. His body was in “good condition,” reports indicate, and he was still wearing hiking boots and a rucksack. The body was discovered following a significant ice melt on the Huascaran and was the third located this year. An Italian climber was found in June, and an Israeli man in May, a month after he disappeared.

Stampfl died in the same mountain range as the infamous 1972 Andes crash involving a Uruguayan rugby team. The story was immortalized in the 1993 movie “Alive,” starring Ethan Hawke, and is currently the subject of a Netflix series, “Society of the Snow.”

When the rugby team’s plane crashed, twelve people died instantly, five died the first night, and 27 remained on the mountain facing a struggle to survive. They created shelter from the aircraft’s fuselage, and survivors recounted that they believed they would be rescued at any moment. Planes passed overhead looking for the young men but did not see them. Only 16 were still alive by the time the group was finally rescued.

Roberto Canessa, who was on the ill-fated flight, has spoken about the experience many times, including the controversial decision to consume their dead team-mates’ remains. He said he questioned the morality of the move many times but ultimately wanted to survive. Canessa explained that thoughts of his mother made him fight for his life as he didn’t want her to endure the pain of losing her son.