The remains of Mitchell Dale Stehling have been found at Mesa Verde National Park/NPS
Seven years after a Texas man vanished while on a hike at Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado his remains have been found.
Mitchell Dale Stehling, 51, had set out in June 2013 for a short hike to the park's Spruce Tree House, a 130-room archaeological site with eight ceremonial chambers, known as kivas. The man's wife, Denean Stehling, speculated that her “directionally challenged” husband, hiking without water or a map on a hot and sunny day, might have been misled by a sign pointing to the Chapin Mesa Archeological Museum and inadvertently went off trail.
A family spotted him on the nearby Petroglyph Point Trail. This 2.4-mile-long, narrow, and rocky path requires hikers to clamber in places up a stone staircase to reach the top. There are places along the trail where it wouldn’t be hard for someone to wander into the backcountry.
The family told Stehling’s wife they leapfrogged past one another and were together at the petroglyph panel 1.4 miles from the trailhead, but they never saw him afterwards. Neither did anyone else, though later there were reports from a hiker on the Petroglyph Point Trail who claimed to have heard someone calling for help.
Mesa Verde officials announced Friday that an anonymous tip led to the discovery of human remains in a remote area of the park. Park law enforcement rangers, with assistance from ISB and Montezuma County Coroner’s Office, located and retrieved the remains on Thursday.
"Personal items located with the remains are consistent with identification, and the presumptive identity of the remains is that of Mitchell Dale Stehling," the park said in a release. "DNA analysis will be performed to positively identify the remains. There is no indication of foul play. The remains were found approximately 4.2 miles from the point where Stehling was last seen."
Comments
The " anonymous tipster" was more than likely someone who didn't want to be involved with any type of law enforcement for a variety of reasons.
So, the folks that called in the 'tip" were themselves in an off limits part of the park and did not want to get into trouble. This also means that they were not likley just hikers in an off limits area, but there to look for and steal artifacts that are within this huge park. There is a good reason that the park is very vast, yet only has a small few areas that are accesable to the public. It means that there are many other places that are yet to be reseaarched, cataloged and made into part of the public park. Sadly, fortune hunters are everywhere in the southwest, including in this park. Glad they found the guy and it ws not a UFO or ancient sprit as many of these websites have claimed.
Yes! I have been reading comments and not one person has mentioned 411 or the significance of the area. The spiritual side of this region is never mentioned either or the fact that the entire tribe up and disappeared from this area doesn't seem to be a topic discussed. The whole 4 corners region has numerous reports of strange phenomenon missing people is just the tip of the iceberg.
Who hikes in 100 degree weather for a couple hours without water? It's kind of mind boggling.
Why else would his IDbe there?
I agree. However, does anyone have a map pinpointing exactly where his remains were found in relation to the last known hiking trail he was seen on? I would like to know if his calls for help were "echoing" from his "found" site??
I'm Dale's older sister. Every so often I google his name and just read articles, watch videos about his case. My family and I were devasted to lose Dale in such a weird way. On June 9, 2023, we mark ten years since he went missing. I'm still not over it. He was my best bud in the world. You raised some interesting questions. I can clarify a couple of things, one is that Dale was not military, but our father was; we grew up as Army Brats from baby up. Dale did hike a lot, but really only in the pastures surrounding his home in the country. He was not, as I've seen elsewhere, a survivalist by any means, although he was pretty dang tough. He was physically disabled, due to a number of back surgeries that ultimately caused him to have a stooped over posture and a funny gait, but the man could walk for a long time, probably longer than the searchers would have thought. I went out to Mesa Verde on June 9, 2014, and hiked the Petroglyph Trail.. alone. There were two places where I lost the trail. Somehow, I got off and then back on the trail, thank God, and also when I reached a certain point, I walked out of foliage into a big clearing with a solid rock ground and a cliff with a drop off that took my breath away. No guard rails. Also, I could not see where the trail picked up across the clearing, and stood still for a time just slowly looking around, until I spotted a little bitty pile of rocks stacked one on top of another; I walked over to it and immediately saw the opening for the trail. It was an emotional experience, and I no longer go alone into the wilderness. We were able to have services for my brother, and he is buried under a big live oak tree on his property in South Texas. I will miss him for the rest of my life.
Try YouTube and search for Two HIKERS missing in national parks. I was able to find Vanished, which aired on the HIstory Channel searching that way.