Missing hiker's body found

Glacier National Park Rangers have recovered the body of missing hiker Jakson Kreiser. Kreiser, age 19, was from Michigan and a seasonal employee with Glacier Park at Lake McDonald Lodge. This was his first year working in the area when he was reported missing on July 29.

At approximately 12:30 p.m. on Sept. 13, hikers notified park personnel that they found evidence believed to be related to the search for Kreiser.

The hikers found human remains in an area southwest of Hidden Lake. Park rangers and a Flathead County Coroner traveled to the site and the coroner confirmed that the deceased body was Kreiser.

The body was recovered and an autopsy will be performed to determine cause of death.

A search for Kreiser began July 29 after he was reported missing when he failed to return following a hike on July 28. Glacier National Park employees, with assistance from North Valley Search and Rescue, Flathead Search and Rescue, Can Am Search and Rescue, Flathead County Sheriff’s Office, Lake County Sheriff’s Office, and the US Border Patrol, conducted an extensive ground and aerial search for eight days before scaling back efforts.

The search area was focused between Hidden Lake and Avalanche Lake, and in the Floral Park area. This area includes some treacherous country filled with rock cliffs, waterfalls, wet and slippery rocks and boulders, and dense vegetation.