This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

A 19-year-old hiker's body was found in a ravine Monday in Washington County, the day after he was scheduled to meet his parents at the conclusion of a four-day backpacking trip in the Pine Valley Mountains, north of St. George.

Benjamin Needham had been dropped off Thursday, with plans to meet with family noon Sunday at Browns Point Trail. Washington County sheriff's deputies wrote in a news statement Monday. The family said he had enough food for three or four days and the means to purify water, deputies wrote.

Needham's family called for help after he did not arrive at the meeting place Sunday, deputies wrote.

Searchers on Monday afternoon found Needham's body about 40 feet down a ravine, deputies wrote. Investigators do not know when Needham died, deputies wrote. He was alive as of Friday night, when a U.S. Forest Service employee reported speaking with Needham and helping him find a campsite near Whipple Trail, deputies wrote.

The cause of his death is under investigation, deputies wrote.

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