WEST GLACIER – Searchers looking for an overdue hiker in Glacier National Park found his body in the remote North Fork area Wednesday.
Bruce Colburn’s, 53, of Reading, Pa., remains had a single self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest and the Flathead County coroner has ruled it a suicide.
Colburn was last seen Oct. 10 near a patrol cabin at the northeast end of Kintla Lake.
Teams began searching for him Thursday after he failed to call a friend to pick him up as expected. He had been dropped off near Kintla Lake on Oct. 8.
Colburn’s body was found on a slope above a trail near the head of the lake at about 5 p.m., according to a National Park Service news release.
Patrick Suddath, Glacier’s incident commander for the search, said details of the man’s plans were “sketchy.”
“All we knew was that he had told acquaintances that he intended to travel into Glacier’s backcountry for anywhere from one to four weeks, that he knew there was a permit requirement, and that he did not obtain a permit,” Suddath said.
More than 30 people from several agencies were involved in the aerial and ground search.