Body of missing hiker recovered
28-year-old was on camping trip in Kofa refuge
The Yuma County Sheriff’s Office, with the assistance of the Yuma Sector Border Patrol’s BORSTAR unit, has recovered the body of a 28-year-old Mississippi man who had not returned from a camping and hiking trip in the Kofa refuge area last week.
A Search and Rescue (SAR) helicopter from Marine Corps Air Station Yuma also assisted in the search for Nathan Marcus Hughes, which was focused in a general area northeast of Yuma Proving Ground.
According to spokesperson Alfonso Zavala, the sheriff’s office received a report of a missing hiker in the Kofa Refuge at approximately 2:23 a.m. on Monday.
Deputies spoke to the reporting party, who told them that Hughes, who was a naval officer and avid outdoorsman, had last called her on Friday, July 27. He did, however, provide her with his GPS location and mentioned he was going camping and hiking.
“He told the reporting party that if he did not make contact with her by Sunday night to notify law enforcement,” Zavala said.
A ground and aerial search was conducted in the area, and Hughes’ vehicle was found six miles east of Highway 95 from mile marker 77 in the vicinity of Castle Dome Mine Road and King Road.
Zavala added that Hughes’ body was discovered at approximately 9:55 a.m., about one mile from his vehicle. Hughes had been scheduled to report back his base in San Diego at 8 a.m.
Next of Kin has been notified. The circumstances behind his death were not released.
James Gilbert can be reached at jgilbert@yumasun.com or 539-6854.