A body has been found in the search for a missing American hiker. Patrick Allan Monroe, 33, had last been seen at around 4pm on Thursday April 6, near the summit of Ben Lui in Perthshire.
He had set off from the Pine Trees Leisure Park Campsite in Tyndrum, Argyll and Bute, at around 8am and was seen at the summit of Ben Oss at around 1.15pm. Patrick is believed to have reached the summit of Ben Lui at 3pm but vanished as he made his way along the ridge to Ben A’Cleibh at around 4pm
Officers have now confirmed a body was found at around 11am on Thursday April 13 during an intensive search involving mountain rescue. His family have been informed.
Patrick is described as 6ft, of slim, athletic build, and speaks with an American accent. He has shoulder-length ginger hair and a beard.
He was last seen wearing a blue t-shirt, dark green jacket, a baseball cap and walking trousers and boots. He may have been carrying a rucksack.
There are not believed to be any suspicious circumstances surrounding the death. A report will be sent to the Procurator Fiscal.
It comes after two other bodies were found during searches for missing hillwalkers elsewhere in recent days.
Zekun Zhang had last been seen at 1pm on Tuesday April 11 near the summit of Carn Mor Dearg. It is believed he walked a route from the peak and on to Ben Nevis. The hillwalker planned to go back the mountain's north face, but following his ascent he did not return.
However on Thursday a Police Scotland spokesperson said the body of a man had been discovered around 3.30pm on Thursday on Ben Nevis. The 26-year-old family had been informed.
A climber also died in a 164 feet plunge in the Scottish Highlands on Saturday April 8. The 40-year-old man was with a climbing companion on the 3351ft high Stob Dearg on Buachaille Etive Mor, near Glencoe, when he slipped.
Glencoe Mountain Rescue Team sent 13 members to the incident. In an eight-hour rescue the team carried his body off the mountain while three others climbed up to his companion, who was stuck on a ledge about 2000 feet up.
He is yet to be identified. But it was one of four rescues the team carried out in a gruelling Bank Holiday period - including several hours stretchering a dog with a broken leg to a vet after his owner also suffered a leg injury, slipping and falling on ice above the Lost Valley.
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