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US tourist found dead in a gorge in Himachal Pradesh
A US tourist, who went missing near Dharamshala town in Himachal Pradesh last week, was found dead in a gorge on Tuesday, police said.
A US tourist, who went missing near Dharamshala town in Himachal Pradesh last week, was found dead in a gorge on Tuesday, police said.
The deceased was identified as Maxmillian Lorenzo from North Carolina.
According to Kangra deputy commissioner Nipun Jindal, Lorenzo arrived in Dharamshala on October 21 to attend a meditation retreat.
Kangra superintendent of police (SP) Khushal Chand Sharma said the 30-year-old tourist was staying at Ara Camps in Naddi village and would hike daily to Gunna Mata Temple, a 4.5 km trek that winds through thick forests.
“Last week, he went to meditate at an isolated place. On November 8, he texted the camp owner saying he lost the trail and was stuck in the mountains and was also short of supplies. After that, he went incommunicado as his phone turned off,” Sharma said.
Instead of approaching police, the camp owner began searching for the American on his own, the SP said.
“On November 10, it was only after the US embassy approached us that we launched a search operation,” he said.
A joint search team of state disaster response force (SDRF) and local police assisted by local trekkers and hikers from Regional Mountaineering Institute carried out the search and found the tourist’s body in a gorge near Gallu waterfall, uphill from Naddi village, on Tuesday, Sharma said.
“Prima facie, he died of cold after falling into the gorge. However, the exact cause of death will be known after an autopsy,” the SP said.
Sniffer dogs and drone cameras were engaged to trace the missing American, he said.
“It is learnt that the deceased’s parents are on their way to Dharamshala. The body will be handed over to them after they arrive here,” Sharma said.
The camp owner was not available for a comment on the matter.
The trekking trails in the foothills of Dhauladhar Mountains have claimed several lives in the past.
Two local trekkers died of hypothermia in January after they were stranded in snow on Rising Stall hill-top, overlooking Yol Cantonment.
In December 2021, two trekkers from Dharamshala died after they were caught in a snowstorm near Thatharna, above Khaniara village.
In 2013, two French trekkers – Marcel Gorges and Francois Xavier Camille – went missing while attempting to summit the 4,610-meter-high Moon Peak. They have not been found since then.
