23-year-old hiker found dead 3 months after he fell into creek, MT rescuers say
A missing 23-year-old man was found dead three months after he fell into a rushing creek in Montana, rescuers said.
Tim Sandford’s body was recovered Sept. 23, about 1,500 feet downstream from where he was swept into the water at East Rosebud Creek, the Red Lodge Fire Rescue said in a Facebook post.
Search teams discovered his body by using a drone, rescuers said.
The Minnesota man had been trying to cross “Rimrock Lake while hiking the Beaten Path from East Rosebud Lake to Cooke City” at about 12:15 p.m. June 8, rescuers previously reported.
He fell and was then swept away in the rushing water, rescuers said.
Rescuers looked for him but “fast-moving water, waterfalls, large boulders, logs, and difficult-to-access terrain made recovery efforts extremely dangerous and complex,” rescuers said.
The area became a dangerous crossing for hikers after the bridge at Rimrock Lake outlet was ruined in a 2022 flood, rescuers said.
A 20-year-old Montana State University student was swept to his death at the same crossing in July 2024, rescuers said.
Dylan Honnell’s body was found several weeks later once water levels receded, rescuers said.
