Stanford biology professor accused of violence explains disappearance
A Stanford biology professor accused of domestic violence is speaking publicly about his three-day disappearance in a national park in Washington state, saying he slipped on a snowy slope and hit his head, becoming “disoriented and lost.”
“I found myself deep in the wilderness, far from any trail,” Hunter Bryan Fraser, 44, wrote in a statement, describing how he followed a stream and hiked for 15 hours a day, wandering up a mountain pass and into a snowy field before emerging from a trail in Olympic National Park.
His dramatic “self-rescue” on Saturday was the latest twist in a case that has convulsed faculty and students at the university, where Fraser is still teaching and running a genetics laboratory as his case winds through court. He’s facing one misdemeanor count for allegedly injuring a girlfriend and causing “a traumatic condition,” according to court documents. The victim is not identified in court charging documents but a spokesperson for Fraser and his family confirmed his girlfriend levied the domestic violence allegations, which Fraser has denied.
A Santa Clara County Superior Court judge postponed Fraser’s hearing, set for June 9, “at the request of the accuser,” the professor said. Fraser said he had in tended to return from his solo hike on June 7 in time for the court date. His next hearing is set for June 28.
Representatives of Stanford did not immediately respond to inquiries, and Fraser’s defense attorney did not answer requests for comment.
Ninety people participated in the search for Fraser after law enforcement found his car parked at the Deer Ridge trailhead, officials from the Clallam County Sheriff ’s Office and the National Park Service said. The multiagency rescue effort included helicopters, dogs, ground crews and volunteers from a slew of organizations, all combing a vast forest to find a lone hiker shouldering a gray backpack.
Fraser received treatment at a hospital in Washington, where he said he was diagnosed with a concussion. The professor said he realized how lucky he was after a park ranger “informed me that in his 18 years, this is the first time someone in the park has survived” three days after he was due back.