American found mummified in Peru 22 years after disappearance

Peruvian police made the discovery Friday
William Stampfl disappeared at the age of 59
An avalanche buried him and his team on Huascaran mountain

Updated: Jul 9, 2024 / 05:28 PM CDT

William Stampfl’s body was discovered in the Cordillera Blanca range of the Andes

(NewsNation) — The preserved body of an American mountaineer who disappeared more than two decades ago during an avalanche has been found.

According to Peruvian police, William Stampfl was found mummified on Friday on the Cordillera Blanca range of the Andes after ice melted.

Stampfl was reported missing at the age of 58 in June 2002. He and his climbing party were buried under an avalanche as they attempted to climb Mount Huascaran.

Police said that Stampfl’s body, clothes, shoes and harness remained intact. So, too, did his driver’s license, which showed him to be a resident of Chino, California.

Per the Associated Press, Stampfl’s body was brought down from the mountain over the weekend and was later placed in a morgue in Yungay.

Hundreds of climbers visit Mount Huascaran — which has an apex of over 22,000 feet — each year. According to AP, the body of his friend, Steve Erskine, was found shortly following the avalanche in 2002.

The body of their companion, Matthew Richardson, has not yet been found.