On Tuesday, May 7, two hikers were reported missing at Mount Whitney, California. The bodies of the hikers were retrieved on Thursday, May 9, and identified as Andrew Niziol, 28, and his girlfriend Patty Bolan, 29 from South Lake Tahoe and Davis, respectively. The pair died in an apparent fall.
Inyo County Sheriff’s Dispatch received a call on Tuesday, May 7, around 8:30 p.m. regarding two overdue hikers on Mount Whitney. Friends, who had been hiking with the pair, had waited several hours for both hikers at their campsite and alerted the Inyo County Sheriff’s Office when they would not respond to phone calls or messages, and then failed to show up at the campsite in the evening.
It was reported that the hikers intended to descend to the “Notch” with the intention of skiing/snowboarding from the “Notch” back to Upper Boy Scout Lake where they had set up camp. The “Notch” is located on the right side of the face of Mount Whitney from the Mount Whitney Mountaineer Route.
Search and rescue teams were then deployed by Inyo County Search & Rescue, using helicopter and foot teams to search for the missing hikers. The couple’s bodies were found on Wednesday on the north face of Mount Whitney in Tulare County’s territory. Therefore, Tulare County Sheriff’s Office took over the retrieval and identification of the bodies.
The exact cause of death is yet to be determined by the Tulare County Coroner.
