HIKING NEWS ITEM

Body of Lonely Planet Author Finally Found

WEDNESDAY, 25 JULY 2007

Lonely Planet's author, Clem Lindenmayer, disappeared for almost three months while hiking near Minya Konka mountain in Sichuan province. His body was finally found on a mountain in the country's remote south-west.

According to China's official news agency, the body was found on July 19.

Lindenmayer's last contact from his family was around May, when he said in an email to his wife that he is headed on a hike around the mountain range which lies in a rugged region that was once part of Tibet. It was also stated that he is set to do a six-day circuit around Mount Gongga. But by the end of the same month, the family still had no news about his whereabouts.

Members of his family left Australia early last month to look for him.

While searching for Lindenmayer's body, Xinhua news agency also reported founding other bodies that were lost for quite a long time. A body of a Japanese mountaineer was found who they say was missing for almost 26 years. Likewise, there was also an American woman climber who was found on a remote mountain, 8 months after she disappeared as well.

To read more about this news report, please visit www.smh.com.au.