Dr. James McGrogan
died of injuries sustained in a fall.
McGrogan’s body was
found on Thursday, April 3, in an ice fall below Booth Falls in the Colorado
Rocky Mountains north of Vail, about four and a half miles from the Eiseman
Hut trail, on which McGrogan was hiking with friends on March 14 when he
disappeared.
Jessie Mosher, a
spokesperson for the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office, told the Chesterton
Tribune today that Coroner Kara Bettis has ruled McGrogan’s death an
accident and determined that he died as a result of a fall from a cliff.
McGrogan, a
Chesterton native and a 1993 graduate of Chesterton High School, was an
emergency medicine physician with the St. Joseph Regional Medical Center in
Mishawaka.
Around 8:30 a.m.
Friday, March 14, McGrogan and three friends began the approximately
seven-mile hike to the Eiseman Hut, a cabin facility. At 10 a.m. McGrogan’s
friends decided to take a break along the trail but McGrogan pressed ahead.
At 5 p.m. the three arrived at the Eiseman hut but there was no sign of
McGrogan.
A five-day
search-and-rescue operation was launched, more than 100 trained personnel
and two helicopters participated, but foul weather on Tuesday, March 18,
prompted authorities to end the operation.