Park officials and county volunteers used the Australian man’s last communications to narrow a search spanning remote public lands.
JACKSON, Wyo. — An incomplete satellite check-in and a video sent to family helped authorities trace the final movements of a 28-year-old Australian hiker who was found dead Wednesday in a remote area of the Teton Range.
The search developed across several jurisdictions as officials reviewed the man’s recent communications and tracking information. Teton County Search and Rescue found him at about 8:20 a.m. July 29 below a ridge south of North Wigwam Peak. The location was near the Wigwams on the west slope of the Tetons, between Grand Teton National Park and the Jedediah Smith Wilderness.
The hiker had been traveling south on the Continental Divide Trail and regularly updating relatives in Australia with a Garmin satellite device. Such devices can transmit messages or location information beyond the reach of normal cellular networks, but the last check-in received by his family contained neither coordinates nor a written message.
The family had received a more detailed update July 19 from the Old Faithful area in Yellowstone National Park. The man outlined plans to travel through the Tetons before continuing toward the Gros Ventre Wilderness, the Wind River Range and the Divide Basin.
Four days later, relatives received the incomplete Garmin check-in and a video through Facebook Messenger. They believed the video placed him in the Teton area, but communication then stopped. The family contacted park officials July 27 after no further messages arrived.
Officials from Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks examined the available tracking information to establish where the hiker had most likely traveled. Their review placed his last known location in Teton County rather than within either national park, and the case was transferred to the county search and rescue organization.
The handoff reflected the boundaries governing backcountry emergency responses in the region. National park personnel oversee incidents within park boundaries, while county rescuers handle many operations on surrounding public lands. The search area included rugged terrain near the line separating Grand Teton National Park from the Jedediah Smith Wilderness.
Teton County Search and Rescue assembled a helicopter short-haul team Wednesday morning and flew to the hiker’s last known area. Volunteers searching from the aircraft spotted a bright orange backpack, giving them a visible point of reference in the steep alpine landscape. They found the man below the nearby ridgeline.
The rescue agency said evidence suggested that the hiker may have fallen from the ridge. That assessment was preliminary, and authorities had not released a final cause of death. The man’s identity also had not been made public in the official and local reports reviewed Thursday.
Rescuers removed the body from the mountain and transported it to their headquarters in Jackson before transferring it to the Teton County Coroner’s Office. The office will handle the formal death investigation and any public identification.
Teton County Search and Rescue thanked the federal agencies involved in reviewing the tracking information and assisting with the operation. The recovery ended the active search, while the coroner’s findings and any further official details remained pending.
Author note: Last updated July 30, 2026.