Bill Stampfl, 58, and two friends died in an avalanche while out hiking in Peru in 2002.<\/p>\n
Sadly when people are killed in avalanches there is generally very little chance of their loved ones being able to recover their body.<\/p>\n
Bill’s family had held out little hope of ever finding his body from under the masses of ice and stone on the 22,000-foot tall Huascaran peak.<\/p>\n
But in an extraordinary development, Bill’s son Joseph Stampfl received a\u00a0phone<\/a>\u00a0call years after his father’s disappearance.<\/p>\n Joseph was told that by an extraordinary chance another\u00a0climber<\/a>\u00a0had happened upon his father’s body while attempting his own ascent of the peak.<\/p>\n He had also found Bill’s body in a remarkably well-preserved state.<\/p>\n Bill Stampfl died in an avalanche 2002. (KTLA 5)<\/cite><\/div>\n Speaking about the discovery, Joseph\u00a0told<\/a>\u00a0CBS: “It was so out of left field. We talk about my dad, we think about him all the time.<\/p>\n “You just never think you are going to get that call.”<\/p>\n Joseph went on to tell his family about the discovery, including his sister Jennifer who described how she felt about her father’s body being found.<\/p>\n She said: “It’s been a shock. When you get that phone call that he’s been found your heart just sinks.<\/p>\n “You don’t know how exactly to feel at first.”<\/p>\n She added: “For 22 years, we just kind of put in our mind: ‘This is the way it is. Dad’s part of the mountain, and he’s never coming home.'”<\/p>\n Bill was discovered by another climber about 4,000ft below where he and his two friends had been killed.<\/p>\n The climber found Bill’s frozen remains, still wearing his boots 22 years later.<\/p>\n Mountain rescue recovered Bill’s body from the mountainside. (KTLA 5)<\/cite><\/div>\n On the body the climber found a pouch which contained Bill’s\u00a0driving<\/a>\u00a0licence, which enabled the climber to trace Bill”s family and confirm his identity to the local authorities.<\/p>\n![\"Bill](\"https:\/\/images.ladbible.com\/resize?type=webp&quality=70&width=3840&fit=contain&gravity=auto&url=https:\/\/images.ladbiblegroup.com\/v3\/assets\/blt949ea8e16e463049\/blt6dfe8dacfc0c0ab5\/66913d47dbd7dc33fbc56ba2\/Screenshot_2024-07-12_at_15.25.24.png\")
<\/div>\n![\"Mountain](\"https:\/\/images.ladbible.com\/resize?type=webp&quality=70&width=3840&fit=contain&gravity=auto&url=https:\/\/images.ladbiblegroup.com\/v3\/assets\/blt949ea8e16e463049\/blt56267b64fb6df50f\/66913d66dbd7dc1d96c56bb2\/Screenshot_2024-07-12_at_15.25.38.png\")
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