FBI ID's hiker found dead in Amherst Cou nty, calls

“http://www2.newsadvance.com/news/2011/aug/19/9/fbi-ids-hiker-found-dead-amherst-county-calls-deat-ar-1249383/

FBI ID's hiker found dead in Amherst County, calls death suspicious



An Indiana man whose body was found last week off the Appalachian Trail in Amherst County may have been missing for weeks.

Friday morning, the FBI identified the remains as belonging to hiker Scott Lilly, a resident of South Bend, Ind. Authorities said his body was found the afternoon of Aug. 12 near the trail in the Mount Pleasant National Scenic Area, a 7,500-acre area in the George Washington National Forest near the corner between U.S. 60 and the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Lilly used the trail name �Stonewall,� according to the FBI. Long-distance hikers on the Appalachian Trail are more commonly known by their nicknames than their given names.

Friday�s FBI press release said, �The circumstances of his death are suspicious.� The bureau noted investigators have no information �that would lead (them) to believe other hikers would be targeted.�

Regina Reiter, who has served the past two springs as the Tye River Ridgerunner, a hiker who works with the Appalachian Trail Conservancy to monitor the trail from Rockfish Gap to the James River, said investigators had been asking her about Lilly.

Based on information from the investigators, Reiter said she believes she was about a day ahead of Lilly in her last few days on the trail. She left the trail on July 26, she said, to return home to Atlanta.

Investigators told her Lilly had last called his mother a few days earlier from the area of The Priest, the 4,000-foot peak that rises south of the Tye River. She said she was told Lilly was headed south.

The Priest is a day or two�s hike north of Mount Pleasant.

As a steward of the trail, she said she is sad she never met Lilly and feels she may have been able to help if she had the chance. The idea that someone may have died on the trail of other-than-natural causes is unsettling, she said.

�That, of course, is scary. Definitely,� she said in a phone interview. �The community of hikers is a very close community. People watch out for each other. Even though we only meet people for a short period of time, we are very connected.

�It�s very special, different from our usual world. It�s a place where we celebrate our strength and how we can be something great. This shakes us up to reality.�

Trudy Phillips, president of the local Natural Bridge Appalachian Trail Club, said the Mount Pleasant area is a fairly high-traffic area because of the access to the Appalachian Trail from U.S. 60 and other back roads and because side trails to the peaks of three mountains offer spectacular views.

The Appalachian Trail Conservancy has a number of common sense safety tips. Don�t hike alone. Leave an itinerary with someone at home and check in on a regular basis. Be wary of strangers, don�t camp near roads. Use registers at trailheads and shelters to sign in.

�People should trust their instincts,� Conservancy spokesman Brian King said. �That is the core of the advice. Right now, we don�t have any reason to believe there is a threat out there. (The trail) is there to be enjoyed, but if something feels not right, get away from there.�

Investigators have asked that anyone who had been in contact with Lilly recently or had seen him to call Central Virginia Crime Stoppers at (888) 798-5900 or the FBI at (800) 225-5324, option No. 4”

“Wow. Sad to lose a fellow backpacker, especially under suspicious circumstances.”

“

I camped at Mt. Pleasant about this time last year with my daughter. Great campsites at the summit. High traffic area.”

“Actually, that pic above is from Sharptop mountain, this one is from Mt Pleasant:

”

“and now a SECOND body.

Oh my. Could hiking solo in VA be a dangerous thing right now?

http://www2.newsadvance.com/news/2011/aug/22/2nd-body-found-in-geo-wash-national-forest-ar-1254105/

2nd body found in George Washington National Forest
By: ASSOCIATED PRESS AP Virginia News
Published: August 22, 2011

LURAY, Va. (AP) --

A body has been found in the George Washington National Forest, the second such discovery in the forest in Virginia this month.

WHSV-TV (http://bit.ly/oYox38 ) reports the body that was found over the weekend has been sent to a medical examiner.

Details on the body weren't immediately available. A message left with the Page County sheriff's department wasn't immediately returned Monday.

On Aug. 12 the body of a hiker was found near the Appalachian Trail in northwest Amherst County. The FBI lists that victim's cause of death as suspicious and an investigation is continuing.”

“D@MN...

'32oz”

“Newer reports are coming in that the second death may have been natural causes.

Will update as info comes in.”

“i hate to hear stories like this...of course for the friends and families of the deceased but also because it makes hiking/backpacking seem like a dangerous hobby when in reality you're more likely to have something like this happen to you in your every day life”

“Seems likely that "Natual Causes" would be an occasional cause of death on the AT....Someone who is nearing death or at least suffering an illness begins to look at their remaining days and moves "Hike the AT" closer to the top of their bucket list...

sure would make a lot of people more at ease if it's proven though.....”

“"Natural Causes" would be a great trail name. It would take a hell of a sense of humor to go with it.......”

“Natural Lite would be a little more appropo for me.”

“http://www.wbtv.com/story/15385888/fbi-investigating-after-man-dies-while-hiking-the-appalachain-trail

More on this case.”

“It took all my courage to do my first long hike alone and since then I almost prefer solo trips. Just came back from a 3 week jaunt in N.C and as always meet great people and had alot of fun. Saw a poster for a missing guy at Pisgah on the trail board at the info cabin and that brings the reality of just how vulnerable we can be out there not just for foul play, but, carelessness is usually the culprit.”

“Interesting that they are looking for "papa smurf" in the suspicious death. There were threads on White Blaze this summer warning about a guy by that trail name.”

“Great.”

“If you do a search he has a journal and a blog. I didn't read any of them but like Ped I remembered seeing his name on WB.”

“The hiker that goes by the name Papa Smurf was in the Trail Talk camp at Trail Days. Trubrit has a pic of him. One poster reported that Papa Smurf left the area of the death shortly after the time of death, skipping forward. That may well be a coincidence but it has raised some eyebrows.”

“I can imagine - especially given that lots of people were already very wary of him.

http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?74136-Dead-beat-hiker

http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?74217-Suspect-hiker”