Overview
- Phoenix crews located the body on South Mountain and recovered it by helicopter during an early-morning operation on Tuesday.
- Phoenix Fire confirmed the person had been reported missing several days earlier and was later found dead on the trail.
- Phoenix Police have opened a death investigation and officers blocked off the Mormon Trailhead parking lot while they process the scene.
- Officials have not identified the victim and they have not released a cause of death as investigators continue their work.
- South Mountain’s steep, remote terrain often requires airlifts for rescues or recoveries, a pattern that has prompted repeated emergency responses in the park.