Earlier this month, a hiker surnamed Zhang fell to his death on Xiuguluan Mountain, and his body was retrieved on the 19th. Unexpectedly, late last night, another deceased hiker’s mummified body was discovered on Xiuguluan Mountain, unidentifiable. Well-known hiker 'Three Fish' Chan Chiao-yu also posted on Facebook to help locate the family.
On the 14th of this month, a five-person mountaineering team climbing the Maobu Traverse reached the summit of Xiuguluan Mountain on the border of Hualien and Nantou counties. On the descent, a hiker surnamed Zhang fell to his death in a valley, and his body was retrieved on the 19th. Unexpectedly, on the 21st, another mummified body was found on Xiuguluan Mountain, clearly dead for several months. The case has been reported to Hualien police and fire departments, with Hualien notifying Nantou to assist in the investigation. Nantou County Fire Bureau asked 'Three Fish' Chan Chiao-yu to spread the message via Facebook to help the deceased find their way home.
Lin Cheng-yi, captain of the Third Brigade of Nantou County Fire Bureau, said they received the information on the evening of the 21st, which will be handled by the Xinyi Precinct. The Xinyi Precinct indicated that they currently plan to first hire local mountain guides to carry the body down and then have a prosecutor conduct an examination, following legal procedures. It is estimated to take three to four days to reach the mountain. If there are concerns that manually carrying the body might cause deformation affecting the examination, they may also apply to the fire bureau for helicopter retrieval.
Well-known hiker 'Three Fish' Chan Chiao-yu posted on Facebook with photos, stating that the body was found about 100 meters below the summit trigonometric point of Xiuguluan Mountain, with signs of a fall and appearing to have been dead for some time. Some suggest it looks like the accident happened two months ago, but she personally believes it has been at least two weeks.
Additionally, the body was wearing rain gear, suggesting the weather was poor at the time of the incident. The shoes were badminton shoes (some netizens suggested they might be running shoes), the backpack was not a hiking pack (a badminton brand backpack), and the sleeping bag did not look like a hiking one but more like a camping one. Chan Chiao-yu guessed the person might not be a frequent hiker, possibly an ordinary citizen who ventured into the mountains, so their family might not know they had gone. There have also been no recent reports of missing persons in the mountainous area.
One netizen replied, 'Could be a ball sports enthusiast. Victory brand gear is more common among badminton players, and compared to regular sports bags, Victory seems less common~' Another commented, 'Possibly an off-trail runner, try asking in off-trail running groups.'