Colorado authorities believe they have found the remains of a Chicago hiker missing since October 2010, authorities said.
A camper found an abandoned campsite near Holy Cross City, a ghost town in the White River National Forest near Minturn, Colo., on Friday, authorities said. The next day, police hiked to the location, apparently the campsite used by James Nelson, 31, of Chicago’s Ravenswood neighborhood, and found human remains, according to a news release from the sheriff’s department in Eagle County, Colo.
Nelson’s fiancee reported him missing in October 2010 after he failed to return from a five-day, 25-mile hike of the Holy Cross Wilderness Area.
Authorities said “there’s a strong reason to believe” this was Nelson’s camp because of belongings found at the site. A notebook found at the campsite, which is near a road but blocked by a giant boulder, shows Nelson may have been suffering from altitude sickness at the time of his disappearance, according to the news release.
Police said some of Nelson’s gear is missing, including a camera, GPS unit and a camping stove, which may have been taken by campers who thought the site was abandoned. The remains were found 120 feet from the camp, a spokeswoman said.
“We don’t have any suspicion of foul play. But it’s still under investigation,” sheriff’s spokeswoman Jessie Mosher said.
The human remains have been turned over to the Eagle County coroner’s office. The coroner could not be immediately reached Sunday.
Police said they will search the area with a cadaver dog but did not specify when.
Nelson’s family did not respond Sunday to requests for comment. On his Facebook page, Nelson’s father writes: “My son has been found, may peace be with our family.”
Nelson was working on a doctorate in religion and planned to teach theology at a university, his mother told the Tribune in 2010.
“Those who knew James remember him for his passion of backpacking and the outdoors,” the Rev. Frank Yamada, president of the McCormick Theological Seminary, said in an email Sunday. “The McCormick Seminary community and those in the Chicago-area seminaries that knew him continue to extend thoughts and offer prayers to his family and friends in light of these recent developments.”
Matthew Frizzell, Nelson’s former classmate at the seminary, said he hoped for a different outcome, though the discovery of the site may help Nelson’s loved ones.
“I’m hopeful the family and all of James’ loved ones can find some peace of mind and perhaps proper grief and move on with a loss that really can’t be replaced,” he said.
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