Body found in Shenandoah National Park may be hiker missing since September, park says

A body has been found in Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park and rangers suspect it’s a hiker who went missing in September on the Appalachian Trail.

Searchers have been looking for 66-year-old James Alan Cattley of North Garden, Virginia, since he was reported overdue Dec. 12, according to the National Park Service.

“Based on a preliminary identification of remains found Monday, January 2 ... the investigation into missing person James Alan Cattley has been suspended,” the park said in a Jan. 3 news release.

“The body was transported to the Office of the Medical Examiner in Augusta County for positive ID and determination of cause of death.”

The discovery was made at 11:20 a.m. on Jan. 2 “in the southern part of the park,” not far from where Cattley left his vehicle, officials said.

His car was found Dec. 14 in the Turk Mountain parking area, as rangers were closing nearby Skyline Drive in advance of an ice storm.

Cattley filed a back country travel permit Sept. 22 “for seven nights on the Appalachian Trail with an anticipated exit of October 6,” the park reports.

Investigators have not said why Cattley wasn’t reported missing until more than two months later. His home in North Garden is about 40 miles south of the park.

A 101-mile section of the Appalachian Trail runs through Shenandoah National Park, much of it parallel to Skyline Drive where Cattley’s car was found.

This story was originally published January 4, 2023 at 2:10 PM with the headline "Body found in Shenandoah National Park may be hiker missing since September, park says."