Quoted by CNN World
On June 27, 2024, American climbers Ryan Cooper and Wesley Waren found Bill Stampfl’s body on Mount Huascaran in the Cordillera Blanca of Peru.
22 years ago, in 2002, Stampfl vanished in an avalanche that also took the lives of two friends.
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The body was kept in good condition in the ice at a height of about 16,500 feet.
Stampfl was recognized by Cooper and Waren thanks to his intact wedding band, boots, helmet, and jacket, among other personal items.
A backpack affixed to Stampfl’s body contained his identity card, camera, passport, wallet, and spectacles.
“Someone loved him and someone wanted him to come home,” Cooper said. “As soon as I found out he was an American climber I knew we had a responsibility to track down the family and give them the news,” Cooper said.
“I told him I know the location of his dad. I told him about the ring and personal items,” Cooper said.
His motive was to help the family find closure, Cooper explained.
With “no body, there’s no way to find peace with that,” Cooper said.
Cooper informed Stampfl’s family about the discovery, phoning his son Joseph and daughter Jennifer.
“My heart just sank. After 22 years I had been okay with the fact that he’s there. He’s part of the mountain. Like we’re never going to get him back. The fact that they found him, it opened up all the wounds,” Jennifer told CNN on Tuesday.
“There is no preparation for having your husband killed instantaneously,” Janet said, adding that she never thought her husband’s body would be discovered. “It’s an answer to so many prayers by so many people.”
“He enjoyed it so much. He said he always felt closest to God when he got to the top of the mountain,” Janet said.
“After 22 years…I was a little shocked, it took me a while to process everything,” Joseph said, adding “now it’s time to bring him home hopefully.”
After years of uncertainty, the revelation offered the family both emotional closure and shock.
The body of Stampfl was recovered and brought to a Yungay morgue for an examination.
His ashes will then be transported to his family in the US after his body is burnt in Lima.
