A group of mountain guides in Idaho's Sawtooth Mountains on Tuesday found what they believe to be the remains of a former youth minister from Ogden who had been missing for more than a year.

The youth minister, Jon Francis, 24, had disappeared July 15, 2006, while hiking down the north ridge of the 10,000-foot peak Grand Mogul. Francis was director of youth ministry for Ascension Lutheran Church in Harrisville, in Weber County, and had been in Idaho for a summer Bible camp.

He had left the camp to climb the peak, and when he didn't return that evening, his co-workers reported him missing the next day. Local law enforcement officials organized a search, but found few clues. The search was called off July 21, 2006, but members of Francis's family in Minnesota and friends continued looking on their own until July 25, 2006.

Francis' family and friends then created the Jon Francis Foundation in the pastor's memory, with the aim of continuing the search for him, promoting hiker safety and helping families in the same situation.

Four members of Sawtooth Mountain Guides, hired by foundation, began searching "very technical terrain" Monday, on the north face of the mountain where the young man's remains were believed to be. The searchers came across the remains on Tuesday, said Jeff Hasse, who organized the foundation's search efforts.

Gregg Butts, vice president of the Ascension Lutheran Church in Ogden, said that he had received an e-mail from the foundation saying the searchers had found the remains, and there were "no questions as to who it was."

"We honestly have resigned ourselves to the fact that (the mountain) would be Jon's final resting place," Butts said. "This truly is an answer to our prayers. This is the closure everybody has needed."

After the search efforts were called off last year, Francis' family and friends had sent out search teams when the weather allowed. In mid-June, searchers were sent on a two-week expedition, and they found clues that led them to believe that Francis' remains were on the north side of Grand Mogul, Hasse said. The search resumed Monday, and the climbers found the remains the next day.

"Safety has been our No. 1 priority," Hasse said. "We have been searching areas that are very dangerous, and our concern has been to screen volunteers that can handle this difficult of a search."

Hasse said Custer County authorities were expected to make a positive identification of the remains within the next few days.

---

E-mail: nhale@desnews.com