Found Deceased MT- Tatum Morrell, 23, West Fork Trailhead, Carbon Co, 1 Jul 2021

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Red Lodge Fire Rescue

Update on the Search for Tate Morell.
Please see the video with a message from Tom Kuntz, Incident Commander, Josh McQuillan, Carbon County Sheriff and Tate's family.

July 10, 2021
Rescuers believe lost hiker Tatum Morell did not survive.

After nearly a week of intense search efforts for missing hiker Tatum Morell in the mountains near Red Lodge Montana, rescuers now believe it is unlikely she is still alive.

Rescuers have been searching extensively since July 5th for Tatum. Mountain rescue teams, search dog teams, and ground search teams have put hundreds of rescue hours into searching the area, including searching all possible routes, mountain peaks, ridges, as well as the area around her tent. Search efforts included multiple aerial searches by Red Lodge Fire Rescue, the Yellowstone County Sheriff’s office, Two Bear Air, the Army National Guard, and Gallatin County SAR. In addition to ground and air searching, the rescuers used multiple high resolution visual and infrared cameras, cell phone tracking, and Recco technologies. Tatum’s family has been in the area providing detailed information to search managers.

Rescuers have been searching the rugged mountains that rise above 12,000 feet since July 5th. The challenging search area contains countless rock fields, car-sized boulders, scree fields, and snowfields. Searching the area requires technical experience and advanced backcountry knowledge. The size of the search area and the difficulty of the terrain makes searching extremely dangerous to rescuers.

Tatum Morell was an avid and experienced hiker who planned to climb 5 mountain peaks over 12000’ in the West Fork of Rock Creek near Red Lodge Montana. She had prepared for these hikes through a lifetime of backcountry trips and adventures with her family and by herself. She backpacked into the area, camped at Shadow Lake on Thursday, July 1, and contacted her family via an InReach satellite communicator that evening. While Tatum was not due to return from her trip until last Monday, July 5th, search managers determined that she left her tent on Friday morning, July 2nd to summit a 12,000 foot peak. She never returned to her tent. It is believed that Tatum had a tragic accident and was unable to activate her inReach device. Based on the conditions, terrain, search effort, and the time she has been missing, her family, Red Lodge Search and Rescue, and the Carbon County Sheriff’s office believe it is not likely she survived. “Unfortunately, there are hundreds of thousands of places that Tate could have gotten into trouble on these rugged mountains when the storms came into the area on Friday”, said Incident commander Tom Kuntz. “After the extensive search efforts, we do not believe she survived”

Tatum’s family adds, “Tate was a fiercely independent, adventurous soul who loved the mountains. We find some solace in knowing she passed in a place she loved.”
Red Lodge Fire Rescue and the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office will continue search efforts on a limited but continuous basis for the foreseeable future. There will be limited area searches by trained rescuers, investigation of specific identified targets, and periodic searches by search dog teams.

“I am impressed with the outstanding commitment of all the volunteers on this search operation. Every search technique and technical capability was utilized.” said Josh McQuillan, Carbon County Sheriff. “We had support from local, state, regional and federal resources.

Tatum’s family, the Carbon County Sheriff's office, and Red Lodge Fire Rescue appreciate all of the efforts of the supporting agencies and organizations: Yellowstone County Sheriff, Gallatin County SAR, Park County WY SAR, Big Horn County SAR, , the US Forest Service, the Army National Guard, Montana FWP, Palisades Ranches, Jackson Hole Search Dogs, Absaroka Search Dogs, Western Montana Search Dogs, Coconino County Sheriff's Office, Gallatin County Sheriff's Office, MSU Police, Garmin InReach, Gaia GPS, the many people who volunteered time to search and support the effort and the many people who have offered their assistance. The family asks that people who wish to help in search efforts or commemorate Tatum’s life please make donations in her honor to Red Lodge Fire Rescue at redlodgefire.com

https://youtu.be/K-81e2n6__w
 
Very sad update.

I’ve climbed many Adirondack high peak mountains and have thought if I slip, no one will ever find me. It’s hard to describe scale & crevices to people who have not done these type of climbs. The peaks she planned to hike had some serious elevation gain. Then you have to go down.

Like WA hiker Sam Sayers, Rachel Lakoduk and many others, the mountains sometimes never give you back. IMO
 
K9Enzo said:
Very sad update.

I’ve climbed many Adirondack high peak mountains and have thought if I slip, no one will ever find me. It’s hard to describe scale & crevices to people who have not done these type of climbs. The peaks she planned to hike had some serious elevation gain. Then you have to go down.

Like WA hiker Sam Sayers, Rachel Lakoduk and many others, the mountains sometimes never give you back. IMO
Click to expand...

Going down is often harder than going up. In that area, there is snow, ice, even this time of year. And one area, not sure where she was, but there is an area with "scree", loose gravel, sort of shale on a steep slope, fall, and there is nothing to grab. I stay away from those areas, had a few close calls.
 
https://www.ktvq.com/news/local-new...-back-search-for-missing-hiker-near-red-lodge

(SORRY FOR LONG POST)

Update from July 13th:

While the search has scaled back, there are still dog teams along with a helicopter searching the areas where it's believed Tatum could be.

"On Tuesday, the search effort included a flyover by a Two Bear Air SAR helicopter to investigate areas of interest identified by analysis of high-resolution imagery taken during the search looking for colors or objects not consistent with the surrounding landscape, according to a press release."

I have included a photo of the area covered and routes taken by the SAR helicopter, as well.

The news coverage from KTVQ went on to provide details of the search dogs:

Authorities said four dog teams will stay in the area Friday (July 16th) through Sunday (July 18th) to, "conduct additional searches for human scent. The dog teams request, if possible, the public avoid the area of Marker and Ship Lakes and the eastern faces of Sundance and Bowback mountains while the dogs are working.

The less scent that’s in the area while they’re actively searching helps them focus a little better, so if possible if there were not people in that area that would be helpful to improve the success of the dog teams," says Carbon County search and rescue coordinator Jon Trapp.

---

This part of the news article struck me as very interesting, because I am a regular geocacher.

Whenever I am reading through threads on here, I will often check the geocaching app to see whether there are caches hidden anywhere nearby the last place the individual had been seen.

After that, I will then check the reviews of the cache log along with their timestamps (plus any comments made on the area/photos taken from the cache discovery) to see if anyone had been around that day or any day afterward.

There are multiple geocache locations along routes that Tatum had taken to get to Shadow Lake, and the surrounding trails.

There are reviews on some these caches from even the first few days (July 1st-July 7th) she had gone missing, along with reviews still being entered as late as the 12th.

Some of these haven't had a review since 2016, while others are frequently logged which I assume would be the ones along the main trail.

IMHO, I do not believe foul play is involved in this case either, but it strikes me as strange that there were other hikers and park visitors allowed to be on this trail specifically during the height of the search for Tatum.

If there were multiple reviews on these caches from those days, it leads me to believe that there was a much higher traffic volume of hikers than one might assume.

This is because I doubt that every hiker doing this trail just so happens to be a geocacher.

This is just my personal opinion, and it leads me to ask:

Why had these trail entrances not been closed to visitors during the primary search days?

(I understand the situation of why those who are already on the trail hiking/camping during the time of Tatums disappearance would be there, but I try to keep in mind that when it comes to geocaching it is usually a get in get out type of hike.)

Anyways, this is just MOO and things I've noted while comparing the facts we have to my geocaching app.
 

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I grew up in southwest Montana and still have family there. As far as I can recall, searches in the Montana mountains wouldn't normally close any trails unless there was danger to the hikers. They probably had people at the trailheads telling people coming in to be on the lookout for her, and who to contact with information, but they generally want the extra eyes and ears out there.

Also it was a holiday weekend, so that could account for a lot of the extra traffic by itself.
 
carbuff said:
I grew up in southwest Montana and still have family there. As far as I can recall, searches in the Montana mountains wouldn't normally close any trails unless there was danger to the hikers. They probably had people at the trailheads telling people coming in to be on the lookout for her, and who to contact with information, but they generally want the extra eyes and ears out there.

Also it was a holiday weekend, so that could account for a lot of the extra traffic by itself.
Click to expand...

This clears up some of my confusion. Thank you!
 
w67o said:
This clears up some of my confusion. Thank you!
Click to expand...

You're welcome.

If there had been signs of a crime, like disturbance at her camp site or blood on the trail, they would have closed off that part the same as any other crime scene. Or if there were places where they wanted to search for signs she had been there. I think they've got closure notices out for an area this weekend where they're working with scent dogs to locate something that was spotted on a drone. Crossing my fingers for news.
 
mickey2942 said:
Killer says female hiker fought him to the end

Interesting. And validates my premise that self defense classes for women, are false security against a man intent on harm.

Israel Keyes - Wikipedia

Again, another serial killer, he admitted to targeting women alone in remote areas.
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IMHO absolutely! I took karate etc and have been strangled, raped, beaten up, etc etc etc…..my husband was a ton stronger and bigger, grew up fighting, and served in the army. It was a joke trying to defend myself. (Now maybe experts can do it, sure.)
 
windrower said:
Does anyone know if this device is also a GPS beacon, which works without the person actively using it?

Honestly, I’m not even sure I’m asking the right question.

If Tatum’s device needed her to use it for it to be on or active, then that’s not the same as a GPS tracker, is it?
Click to expand...
You can set the InReach to track your movements based on 10 minute increments and then you can send a link to someone who can click on the link and track your movements. You do have to activate that particular feature on the device it is not automatic. The InReach also does have the SOS feature. The issue with that is that you have to be in a position to flip the little plastic flap and press it so if someone is knocked out or not conscious it won’t work.
 
Body of missing hiker Tatum Morell found, recovered in Beartooth Mountains

"The body of Tatum Morell, a 23-year-old woman who went missing while hiking in the Beartooth Mountains in early July, was recovered on Sunday.

A group of hikers in the Whitetail Peak area found her body and reported their discovery Saturday morning.

"It appears that she was caught in a rock slide," Carbon County Sheriff Josh McQuillan said."
 
EveningSolace said:
Body of missing hiker Tatum Morell found, recovered in Beartooth Mountains

"The body of Tatum Morell, a 23-year-old woman who went missing while hiking in the Beartooth Mountains in early July, was recovered on Sunday.

A group of hikers in the Whitetail Peak area found her body and reported their discovery Saturday morning.

"It appears that she was caught in a rock slide," Carbon County Sheriff Josh McQuillan said."
Click to expand...
Prayers to the family. They have found her.
 
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