Vermont State Police has located the body of a man believed to be missing Appalachian Trail hiker Robert Kerker. The 67-year-old from Rhinebeck, New York, was found Friday afternoon along the Stony Brook in Stockbridge, about 1.5 miles downstream from where the trail crossed the brook.Crews had focused their efforts Friday on the brook after a witness reported seeing Mr. Kerker at the Stony Brook Shelter on the Appalachian Trail the night of July 9.The witness said the historic flooding in Vermont that started July 10th had elevated water levels on the Stony Brook and made the trail’s crossing of the stream dangerous. The Vermont State Police Search and Rescue Team, Killington Search and Rescue, the Killington Police Department, the Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles and New England K9 Search and Rescue participated in the effort Friday afternoon to recover Mr. Kerker’s remains. The body was brought to the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Burlington for an autopsy to determine the cause and manner of death.Police don’t believe his death is suspicious. They believe it was related to the severe flooding. They said Kerker was an experienced hiker who began his trek on the Appalachian Trail on June 1 in Bear Mountain, New York.The investigation is ongoing.
Vermont State Police has located the body of a man believed to be missing Appalachian Trail hiker Robert Kerker. The 67-year-old from Rhinebeck, New York, was found Friday afternoon along the Stony Brook in Stockbridge, about 1.5 miles downstream from where the trail crossed the brook.
Crews had focused their efforts Friday on the brook after a witness reported seeing Mr. Kerker at the Stony Brook Shelter on the Appalachian Trail the night of July 9.
The witness said the historic flooding in Vermont that started July 10th had elevated water levels on the Stony Brook and made the trail’s crossing of the stream dangerous.
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The Vermont State Police Search and Rescue Team, Killington Search and Rescue, the Killington Police Department, the Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles and New England K9 Search and Rescue participated in the effort Friday afternoon to recover Mr. Kerker’s remains. The body was brought to the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Burlington for an autopsy to determine the cause and manner of death.
Police don’t believe his death is suspicious. They believe it was related to the severe flooding. They said Kerker was an experienced hiker who began his trek on the Appalachian Trail on June 1 in Bear Mountain, New York.
The investigation is ongoing.
