Missing hiker found deceased in central Taiwan

在中台灣尋獲已死亡的失蹤登山客

Formerly a prosecutor, the deceased was responsible for prosecuting man who killed 4 and injured 22 on Taipei metro in 2014


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taipei District Court Judge Chen Po-chun (陳伯均), who went missing on Sunday (Sept. 11) while hiking in the central Taiwan mountains with his family, was found deceased on Wednesday.

The 47-year-old judge went hiking near Wuling Farm with his wife and two children on Sunday. They planned to climb Mt. Tao and Mt. Chihyou in one day, CNA reported.

However, after scaling Mt. Tao, the family got lost when they were heading toward Mt. Chihyou. Chen told his family to stay where they were while he left to find the way. His wife called for help after Chen failed to come back.

Upon receiving the call from Chen’s wife, the Taichung City Fire Bureau immediately dispatched a search and rescue team to the scene. They reached Chen’s wife and children in the evening, led them to the nearby Xinda Hut for the night, then escorted them down the mountain the next day.

On Monday morning, the team found Chen’s hiking poles in a valley 40 meters below where he was suspected to have gone missing. On Tuesday, the team found the missing judge’s hat, shoes, glasses case, and backpack 30 meters below where his hiking poles were found, but Chen was still nowhere to be found.

The fire bureau said that the search and rescue effort from Sunday to Tuesday had been hampered by the heavy rain brought by the periphery of Typhoon Muifa, and the team stayed overnight at the Xinda Hut on Tuesday night, per CNA.

On Wednesday, the bureau enlisted the help of two rock climbing experts, and the team continued to search the area below where Chen’s personal items were found. At 7:45 a.m. on Wednesday, Chen was finally found in an arrow bamboo forest 90 meters below where he was suspected to have gone missing.

He was found with traumatic injuries to his chin and face, per CNA. His body will be airlifted out of the mountain, according to the bureau.

Formerly a prosecutor at the New Taipei District Prosecutors Office, Chen was responsible for prosecuting Cheng Chieh (鄭捷), who killed four people and injured 22 in a stabbing spree on a Taipei MRT train in 2014. Cheng was sentenced to death in 2016 and executed 19 days later.