The Ice Man Cometh...

US Army Corps airman found?

Via SignonSanDiego.com:

Park rangers were working with military officials Wednesday in a remote Sierra Nevada glacier to excavate a body believed to be that of an airman who crashed in 1942.

Two unidentified climbers spotted the frozen head, shoulder and arm of body that is 80 percent encased in ice while climbing the glacier on the 13,710-foot Mount Mendel in Kings Canyon National Park, said park spokeswoman Alex Picavet.

As though there were any doubt...

Park officials believe the serviceman, who is wearing a U.S. Army Corps parachute, may be part of the crew of an AT-7 navigational training plane that crashed on Nov. 18, 1942. The wreckage and four bodies were found in 1947 by a climber. This man may have been connected to that expedition, although it's hard to tell until the body's been recovered, Picavet said.

The Joint Prisoner of War Accounting Command is jointly overseeing the recovery effort with the Kings Canyon National Park rangers and experienced climbing crews. It's going to be interesting to see what they discover about the man and whether or not he was aboard that flight. It seems unlikely there is any other explanation, since the area they are in is too remote to reach without hiking for several days.

Interesting story, in the head-scratching strange kinda way.