Tragedy as hiker couple, 28 and 29, who went missing near summit of ... trends now
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Californian authorities have recovered and identified the bodies of two hikers who went missing while trekking up the tallest mountain in the contiguous United States.
Tulare County Sheriff's Office officials told local media on Thursday that the couple, identified as 28-year-old Andrew Niziol and 29-year-old Patty Bolan, were found after helicopter and foot search teams scoured the 14,500ft-tall Mount Whitney, in central California on Thursday.
On Tuesday, Niziol, who was from South Lake Tahoe, and Bolan, who had just finished adoctoral studies in physics at UC Davis, failed to report back to their camp at the Upper Boy Scout Lake, which lies east of the peak.
They told fellow campers that they intended to climb up to the Notch, a small flat spot on the mountain often used as a resting point, before skiing back.
Just one day before the couple, who were on a long-term hiking trip across California, were identified a friend of theirs revealed he had been climbing with them, but got