American mountaineer William Stampfl found mummified 22 years after he vanished in Peru

The mummified remains of an American mountaineer have been found 22 years after he went missing while climbing Peru's highest summit, authorities said Tuesday.

Peruvian police and mountain rescue workers recovered the body of William Stampfl on July 5, police said in a statement. His body was found near a camp on Mount Huascaran, which stands about 17,060 feet above sea level.

Stampfl's body, clothing, climbing boots, and crampons had been well-preserved by freezing temperatures and the ice, according to police. Officials were able to identify the body because the ice had also preserved Stampfl's belongings, including his driver's license and passport.

Stampfl was scaling Mount Huascaran with two friends, Steve Erskine and Matthew Richardson, when they were caught in an avalanche in June 2002, The Los Angeles Times reported at the time. Stampfl was 58 years old at the time.

Their bodies were never recovered, except for Erskine's, according to the newspaper.

Edson Ramirez, a park ranger and risk assessor for the Huascaran National Park, noted that the glacial mass in the region has been retreating for about the last 10 years. "What was buried years ago is coming to the surface," Ramirez told Reuters.

In a report released last November, Peru's National Institute of Research of Mountain Glaciers and Ecosystems announced that the country — which is home to about 68% of the world's tropical glaciers — has lost more than half of its glacier surface over the last six decades due to climate change. Many of these glaciers exist in Peru's Cordillera Blanca, a mountain range that is part of the Andes, where Mount Huascaran and other mountains draw thousands of climbers a year.

Stampfl is the second mummified body to be discovered in the Peruvian Andes, according to online newspaper The Independent. In 2023, the body of 20-year-old Marta Emilia Altamirano was found on a mountain in the Andes after she died during an expedition in 1981.

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Reports: American climbers discovered William Stampfl's body

William Stampfl's son, Joseph Stampfl, told CNN that two American brothers had found his father's body on June 27 while they were descending the mountain "after an unsuccessful attempt to reach its 22,000 ft summit."

The climbers identified William Stampfl after finding a bag attached to his body with his driver's license and passport inside, according to CNN. One of the climbers and the Stampfl family worked with the Peruvian Mountain Rescue Association and Peruvian National Police to retrieve William Stampfl's body.

The recovery team included five officers and eight mountain guides, The Associated Press reported. The Stampfl family told the AP and CNN that they plan to move the body to a funeral home in Peru’s capital, Lima, where he will be cremated.

"It’s been a shock," Jennifer Stampfl, William Stampfl's daughter, told the AP. "When you get that phone call that he’s been found your heart just sinks. You don’t know how exactly to feel at first."

"For 22 years, we just kind of put in our mind: 'This is the way it is. Dad’s part of the mountain, and he’s never coming home,'" she added.

Contributing: Reuters