UPDATE: 23-year-old missing more than a month in rugged Montana wilderness found dead

This story has been updated.



A 23-year-old hiker has been found dead after she went missing following a July 1 satellite call to her mother from rugged Montana mountains, authorities say.

Hikers near Whitetail Peak found her body Saturday, KPVI reported.

“It appears that she was caught in a rock slide,” Carbon County Sheriff Josh McQuillan told the station.

Tatum Morell, a Montana State University student from Idaho, had planned to summit five 12,000-foot peaks on a solo trip, The Billings Gazette reported.

“Tate was a fiercely independent, adventurous soul who loved the mountains,” her family said in a video statement released July 10. “We find some solace in knowing she passed in a place she loved.”

A scaled-back search had continued in the weeks since that announcement.

“Some people may wonder why my sister was out there by herself,” said Josh Morell, her brother, in the July 10 video. “I don’t think that is the right thing to ask. She was out there because she’s a strong adventurous, independent person. She loved being out in the places where she was at.”

“There wasn’t anything necessarily that she did wrong,” he said. “It was just an accident, and accidents happen.”

This story was originally published August 1, 2021 at 9:57 AM with the headline "UPDATE: 23-year-old missing more than a month in rugged Montana wilderness found dead."