Police believe they have recovered the body of a missing Appalachian Trail hiker along the Stony Brook in Stockbridge. They said an initial investigation indicated his death was related to this month’s catastrophic flooding.
If confirmed, Robert Kerker’s death would be the second that officials have attributed to the storms that began pelting the state July 9 and led to widespread flooding July 10.
Vermont State Police said earlier this week that Kerker, 67, of Rhinebeck, New York, had last been seen July 9 at the Inn at Long Trail in Killington. He had subsequently been spotted that night at the Stony Brook Shelter, just east of the inn on the Appalachian Trail, police said in a press release on Friday night.
The witness’ account prompted search crews to focus on the nearby brook.
“The witness said severe rain and flooding that struck Vermont starting July 10 had elevated water levels on the Stony Brook and made the trail’s crossing of the stream dangerous,” police wrote Friday night. “Mr. Kerker is not known to have been seen again following that encounter.”
Search crews on Friday afternoon located a body along the brook about 1.5 miles downstream from where the trail crossed it, police said.
“Initial investigation by the state police indicates the death is not suspicious and was related to the severe flooding,” police wrote. “Mr. Kerker was an experienced hiker who began his trek on the Appalachian Trail on June 1 in Bear Mountain, New York.”
An autopsy will determine the cause and manner of death. The investigation is ongoing.
Kerker’s family reported to the National Park Service on Monday that he had been overdue for a check-in, police previously said. A family member wrote on Facebook that after Kerker left Killington, he had been headed toward Norwich but did not check in for a reservation at the Norwich Inn on July 14.
Kerker had been known on the AT by the trail name “Steady Eddie.”
A Barre man, 63-year-old Stephen Davoll, suffered the first known fatality associated with the floods when he drowned in his flooded basement on July 12, according to state emergency officials coordinating the flood response.
Vermont State Police have also said Burlington resident Katie Hartnett, 25, died after slipping into the Huntington River in Richmond on July 14, when rivers throughout the state were running dangerously high. Officials have said a determination on whether her death is formally linked to the flooding would depend on a number of factors.
