Summit County coroner identifies Frisco man who died on Wichita Mountain

Kyle McCabe/Summit Daily News
Editor’s note: This story was updated to correct an error in a sentence that misidentified whose body was recovered from Wichita Mountain.
The Summit County Coroner’s Office shared in an email with Summit Daily News that the man who died on Wichita Mountain near Frisco and whose body was recovered Tuesday was Michael Joseph Sanchez, a 49-year old Frisco resident.
Coroner Amber Flenniken wrote that an autopsy will be performed on Sanchez on Friday in Boulder. Cause and manner of death are pending that autopsy, and results will take up to two months.
Flenniken wrote that the date and time of death have not yet been determined, pending investigation. Sanchez was pronounced dead Tuesday around 11:22 a.m.
Emergency officials recovered Sanchez’s body Tuesday from Wichita Mountain near a technical scrambling area known as Falcon Ridge. He was reported missing Monday night, and Sheriff’s Office Lt. Mike Schilling said some of Sanchez’s friends found his bicycle near the North Tenmile Creek trailhead while looking for him.
Rescuers went out Monday night looking for Sanchez and found his body, but due to daylight and inclement weather, they were unable to recover his body until the next day.
Schilling said Sanchez was known to recreate in the area often, and deputies suspect he was hiking or running because he was wearing tennis shoes.
Conditions on Wichita Mountain are mixed this time of year, with dry conditions at the trailhead and snow, especially in shaded areas, at higher elevations, Schilling said.

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