A family out hiking near the Wynoochee River several miles south of the dam located a man’s corpse on Saturday.

Kenneth Mandel, an Army officer stationed nearby, said they were out for a hike when he spotted what he initially thought was a barrel or other debris in the river.

“We just hiked out there. It’s a cool spot,” Mandel said in a phone interview. “I saw the object to my left and my brain just processed it as a barrel. We were upstream from it, about 40-50 feet.”

The body was mid-river, Mandel said, caught on an obstruction.

“It snagged up on something,” Mandel said. “It didn’t move while we were there.”

After identifying it as a body, Mandel said he attempted to contact emergency services, first by going back up the bluff in the mountainous region, before driving for about 30 minutes to get back into cell phone range in the remote region before guiding deputies back in.

An operation mounted by the Thurston County Special Operations Rescue team and the Montesano Fire Department Monday was sucessful, said Undersheriff Kevin Schrader in an interview. Strong currents and steep cliffside made it difficult to safely recover the body, but about 20 firefighters succeeded in recovering the corpse by Monday afternoon.

“It’s going to take quite a technical rescue to get down to where the body is, and then some swiftwater expertise,” Schrader said in an interview before it was reccovered. “Once we get to the body, we’ll look for signs of trauma.”

He was identified by law enforcement Monday afternoon, but the name will not be released until the Grays Harbor County Coroner’s Office notifies the next of kin. Schrader said the death appears accidental at this time.

“We get missing hikers and mushroom pickers,” Schrader said. “Sometimes it doesn’t turn out like we want it to.”

While that area is not a good one for water activities, anyone looking to hike, kayak, or any other form of recreation should let someone know where they’re going and when they expect to be back, Schrader said — a float plan or hike plan can save critical time if someone is injured or lost.

Contact Senior Reporter Michael S. Lockett at 757-621-1197 or michael.lockett@thedailyworld.com.