PORTLAND, Ore., Feb. 16 (UPI) -- Rescue teams Tuesday said a man who fell 1,500 feet into the Mount St. Helens crater in Washington has been found dead.
The hiker, identified as Joseph Bohlig, 52, of Kelso, Wash., was standing on a snow cornice about 5 feet from the edge of the crater when the cornice gave way Monday, KATU-TV, Portland, Ore., reported. Bohlig was with another hiker when the accident occurred, CNN reported.
The man was posing for a picture when Bohlig, described by friends as a veteran climber, fell, said North Country emergency medical services chief Tom McDowell, who led one of the rescue teams.
"Someone was taking a picture of him, so they could get the mountains in the background," McDowell told KATU.
Bohlig's body was lifted from the crater by a U.S. Naval helicopter at 2:45 p.m. local time. The body was flown to Carson, Wash., and was to be taken to the Clark County Medical Examiner's Office for an autopsy, Skamania County Undersheriff David L. Cox said.
