Search for missing hiker ends

GRAND JUNCTION, CO — Authorities confirmed late Saturday evening that the body found by hikers around 2 p.m. near the Tabeguache Trail off Monument Rd is that of missing hiker Adam Roach. Roach, 26, was reported missing on January 27, 2006, when his brother called the Grand Junction Police Department to say that Roach had not returned from a hike in the Colorado National Monument.

Roach’s body was found on public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management Grand Junction Field Office in rugged terrain. An autopsy will be performed by the Mesa County Coroner’s Office, and cause of death is pending. Agencies participating in the recovery effort were the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office, Grand Junction Police Department and the BLM.

Search teams combed the Bangs Canyon area off Little Park Rd. Saturday morning for Roach but found no physical sign of him. Authorities received a call yesterday from a Little Park Rd. resident after reading about the search for Roach. After seeing a photo, the resident felt that a person she saw in the area on January 24 might have been the missing hiker. That search was called off at noon.

###