Identity Of Windsor Hiker Who Died In Trinity Alps Is Affirmed

WINDSOR - Carrie Morris and her family had already accepted the likelihood that her husband Steven Michael Morris died when he fell down the steep rocky walls of Billy's Peak while hiking with friends in the Trinity Alps in August 2014.

Human tissue remains, some microscopic, were found in October and December 2014 along a trail, but it wasn't until Spring last year that they were positively identified as those of the 59-year-old family and marriage counselor, Carrie Morris said.

Sonoma County Superior Court examined the forensic evidence in January and the court issued a petition establishing the facts of death on Feb. 9, Morris said. "It's a tragic but positive ending to what looked like an unsolvable mystery," said Morris, 57, of Windsor.

Steve Morris disappeared on Aug. 2 while hiking with a group from the First Presbyterian Church in Santa Rosa and never returned to camp.

Ground and air searches by California Highway Patrol helicopters, Marin County's elite Bay Area Mountain Rescue Unit, seven human detection dogs teams and more than 100 certified search and rescue volunteers began the next day.

The Trinity County Sheriff's Office suspended the search after nearly five days, but more than 60 community and family volunteers, most of them from the church, were determined to solve the mystery, Morris said in a news release Tuesday.

Also on Patch: Family of Missing North Bay Hiker Accepts Fatal Fall in Trinity Alps

More than 5,000 photos of the search zone were analyzed and three certified trackers continued the effort and over $42,000 was raised by 341 supporters on the GoFundMe website.

Helicopter pilot Jim Higgins from Chico offered his help for free, and he was able to locate a slide area descending from the 7,500-foot peak where Steve Morris was last seen.

Footprints were found at the base of the slide, and searchers conducted 21 expeditions over the next 10 months except during winter storms. "We figured out where Steve fell and where he walked," Morris said. "We're pretty sure he injured his upper left body and never lay down. He sat up when he rested," Morris said.

Steve Morris' route was tracked 12,000 feet down the mountainside and led to the finding of evidence that tested positive as human remains by a cadaver dog and by Virginia-based Bode Technology Group, Morris said.

Her husband's remains were spread far and wide over a huge area of bear and mountain lion habitat, Morris said.

"He wanted to be cremated and have his ashes scattered in Yosemite. This is as close as he could get," Morris said.

Because of the support of her friends and family over such an extended time period, "we not only have closure, but I can say we have found as much healing as pain in our story," Carrie Morris said.

-By Bay City News Service, image of Trinity Alps creek via Jeffrey Pang, and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.