MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The remains of an Upshur County man, missing for nearly a year after a hunting trip in Utah, have been discovered.
“I’m relieved and happy,” Crumrine’s son Paul Crumrine, of Morgantown, said Friday on MetroNews “Talkline.” “It’s such a relief to know he died doing what he loved.”
The remains of Crumrine, 69, of Buckhannon, were found this week near Lake Lyman, Utah, with a rifle, GPS unit and a HAM radio, according to his son.
A several week search last fall turned up nothing. Searchers at that time used RECCO technology that is commonly used during avalanches. A helicopter carrying the RECCO devices sends a signal that is designed to bounce back from metal objects.
“The area he was in was so heavy and dense. They did the helicopter fly over with the RECCO unit and didn’t pick him up, I assume just because it’s so thick.”
Paul Crumrine, Son of Carl Crumrine, joins @HoppyKercheval to discuss his father who went missing a year ago during a hunting trip in Utah. The remains have been recovered. WATCH: https://t.co/wkudfIRZCB pic.twitter.com/YJNfyO8BlA
— MetroNews (@WVMetroNews) October 9, 2020
The remains were discovered this week by another hunter about a mile from Crumrine’s camp site. Paul Crumrine said he’s not surprised last year’s search wasn’t more productive.
“We were headed that direction as we were starting to spread out the search,” Paul Crumrine said. “With the impending weather coming in we went another direction because there was a boot print or something we had found.”
Crumrine was last seen alive early on the morning of Oct. 14, 2019, in the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest in eastern Summit County. He was reported missing later that evening when he still hadn’t returned to the group. That’s when Summit County search crews went to work.
Paul Crumrine has deep appreciation for the searchers that worked long hours in their attempt to locate his father. He says family members do have some peace knowing he passed away doing something he loved.
“He went with his boots on doing what he loved,” Paul Crumrine said. “I can’t be more proud of him and happy for the way he went.”
He said Carl Crumrine will be missed, but remembered by many.
“We’d like to have some kind of memorial service because his mining buddies will not allow us not to have a service. They’ll want to pay their respects to him, he was a well respected member of the mining community,” the son said.