The body of BYU student and avid hiker Tyler Mayle was found on Y Mountain at about 8:40 p.m. Wednesday evening following an intensive search.
Lt. Matt Siufanua told the Salt Lake Tribune that it appears Mayle fell from a 60-foot cliff in an area near Eagle Pass, a significant distance from the Y trail. Officers report that this is an area where hikers regularly experience falls and call for help. An investigation will continue into the circumstances of the fall.
The 22-year-old BYU junior, studying communications and political science, had extensive hiking experience. He had been missing since Saturday morning after beginning a hike in hills east of the BYU campus near the Y Mountain trail. His car was found parked at the trailhead parking lot when the search began on Tuesday.
Search efforts included the use of dogs, teams on horseback, helicopters, cave specialists and many people searching on foot — combing the canyons in grid patterns, searching for signs of Mayle.
Search and rescue crews returned from the mountain about 9 p.m. Wednesday to inform family members that Mayle had been found.
“It’s a beautiful place, but it’s very dangerous,” Provo Fire Chief Tom Augustus told Deseret News. “We see just a little portion of what’s up there . . . There’s a lot of area to get lost in.”
