By admin 
Days after he set off to summit a 13,000-foot mountain in California’s Eastern Sierra Nevada, searchers have recovered the body of a missing hiker.
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Brian Seibert, 54, began his trek to the top of Mount Morgan near Bishop on Sunday, Oct. 4, according to a Facebook post by the Mono County Sheriff Search and Rescue Team.
When he failed to return from his hike as planned, authorities launched an intensive, days-long search-and-rescue operation across “extremely challenging” terrain.
Seibert was an avid “peak bagger,” a term used to describe hikers who attempt to reach as many summits as possible
“The team sends its heartfelt condolences to the family, friends and Eastside community for the loss of Brian Seibert,” Mono County Sheriff Search and Rescue Team said in the Thursday, Oct. 8, post. “We rescuers understand that serious incidents in the mountains can happen to anyone.”
The all-volunteer team, which operates under the direction of the Mono County Sheriff’s Office, said it typically responds to 30 to 50 missions a year, “often in adverse and dangerous mountain conditions.”
When was hiker reported missing in Sierra Nevada?
According to the Mono County Sheriff Search and Rescue Team, Seibert started his journey via the North Ridge around 7 p.m. Oct. 4.
Searchers received reports of an “overdue hiker” more than seven hours later, at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 5.
As a California Highway Patrol helicopter from Fresno began an aerial search, local experts and investigators with the Mono County Sheriff’s Office began analyzing everything from photos to “extensive cell phone forensics data” to help establish a search pattern, rescuers said.
Meanwhile, a search-and-rescue K9 and its handler begin a search from Siebert’s vehicle.
Searchers determined Seibert had ascended the North Ridge, although it wasn’t immediately clear if he had summited. Later, a search-and-rescue found the California hiker’s entry in the summit registry.
Before he died, Seibert sent a text message indicating he was heading back.
“Cell phone forensics indicated he may have begun his descent the same way he ascended, via the North Ridge,” rescuers said.
Rescue efforts intensified, as Inyo County Search and Rescue, the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services and the California National Guard joined the search.
Searchers caught a possible break when a night-flying aircraft detected “a lone individual lighting a large campfire near Davis Lake,” below Mount Morgan. Authorities later confirmed the fire belonged to three backpackers.
How did California man die?
At 2 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 6, searchers spotted an anomaly near the base of Grand Central Couloir below the main summit.
“The discovery led rescuers directly to Seibert’s body,” Mono County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue said.
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Rescuers determined that the hiker had “sustained an unsurvivable fall from a cliff band at the base of the couloir.”
“Due to the extremely challenging nature of the terrain between Brian’s location and the nearest landing zone, it was determined that there would be insufficient time to safely complete the recovery that evening,” the rescue team said.
Instead, rescuers recovered Seibert’s body the following day — Wednesday, Oct. 7 — with the help of Yosemite National Park and Friends of Yosemite Search and Rescue.
Where is Mount Morgan in California?
Mount Morgan, which reaches 13,748 feet at its highest point, can be found south of Mammoth Lakes and north of Bishop in the Eastern Sierra Nevada, according to SummitPost.org, an online resource dedicated to climbing, mountaineering, hiking and outdoor exploration
“It is the 31st highest peak in California and the highest in the Rock Creek area,” SummitPost.org said.
According to popular hiking app AllTrails, the 10.6-mile trek up Mount Morgan is a “highly challenging” route that ends with an “extremely steep, exposed scramble over loose rock and scree.”
“Extreme caution, surefootedness and proper route-finding skills are essential” on the hike, which has an elevation gain of 4,071 feet, AllTrails said.
Friends, family members react to death
Family members and friends reacted to news of Seibert’s death on social media, expressing grief for his loss and gratitude for searchers’ efforts.
“His boys and I are so sad,” Seibert’s ex-wife, Sundi Reince, wrote in a comment on Mono County Sheriff Search and Rescue Team’s Facebook post. “We were always hoping he would be found maybe injured but alive. Even though that didn’t happen it was really comforting to know all the hard work you did for those days to find him.”
“We are very grateful to you,” she told rescuers in the comment. “This is heartbreaking, but just wanted to say we truly appreciate all you do,” she said.
Another Facebook user, John-Sarah Amorosano, called Seibert a childhood friend who introduced him to snowboarding and the band Rush.
“We lost contact over the years, but he started reaching back out to me over the last six months with pics of his hikes,” Amorosano wrote, noting that Seibert had stopped by his house a month before his death and gave him backpacking gear.
Amorosano said he recently completed a hike from Badwater Basin in Death Valley to the summit of Mount Whitney in Seibert’s honor.
“Signed the summit register for you, Bri,” he wrote. “Love you, bro.”
This story was originally published October 12, 2026 at 3:47 PM with the headline “California hiker found dead in Sierra Nevada after ‘heartbreaking’ days-long search.”
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