Youth minister's remains are identified

Sheriff's officials on Thursday verified that remains removed from the north side of a peak in Idaho's Sawtooth Mountains were those of a youth minister from the Ogden area.

Jon Francis, 24, went missing July 15, 2006, while descending the peak, said his father, David Francis. Jon Francis was a youth minister with Ascension Lutheran Church in Harrisville, in Weber County. He had been in Idaho for a summer Bible camp.

He went hiking on the the 9,733-foot Grand Mogul that July day. Searchers said he made it to the top and signed the log book. When he didn't return the next day, his co-workers reported him missing. Local officials, along with members of Francis' family in Minnesota and friends, searched for him through the end of July last year, to no avail.

Five climbers with Sawtooth Mountain Guides, hired by a foundation started by Francis' family, began searching again this week and found the remains Tuesday, according to Custer County Sheriff's officers. The Sawtooth guides had been climbing in rugged terrain where clues from previous searches had suggested Francis would be.

"We definitely knew where Jon was not," said David Francis. "The objective was to search gullies on the north face ... They found his water bottle and nearby were his remains."

Custer County Sheriff Tim Eikens sent out the county search and rescue team to help the Sawtooth climbers with the recovery of the remains. They were joined by Stanley, Idaho, police and U.S. Forest Service workers, as well as Idaho Mountain Search and Rescue.

They reached the body and were able to identify it as that of the young minister because of identification found in his wallet. The body was removed from the mountain Wednesday, David Francis said. On Thursday, local officials used dental records to confirm the identification.

"We are being disabled by grief right now," David Francis said. "This has set us back to where we were a year ago, but we are glad this part of the ordeal is over."

He and his wife, Linda Francis, plan to stay in Idaho until their son's remains can be cremated and returned to Minnesota.

"This has been a journey of sorrow," the father said. " We have talked to a lot of his friends and discovered that he was a remarkable young man who made a difference in people's lives."

For more information about the Jon Francis Foundation, which was established by the Francis family to help other families who have lost loved ones in the wilderness, visit: www.jonfrancis.org.

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E-mail: nhale@desnews.com