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Son of American climber found mummified on mountain 22 years after vanishing speaks out about shocking moment he received heartbreaking phone call
The son of an American mountaineer who disappeared in the Andes more than two decades ago has said the US embassy in Peru offered no help in recovering his father's body when it was found last month.
Bill Stampfl was reported missing in June 2002, aged 59, when an avalanche buried his climbing party on Mount Huascaran in the Ancash region of Peru.
But his son Joseph got a call from a stranger on June 29, almost exactly 22 years later, to say he had come across the climber's frozen body, as he made his own ascent up Huascaran.
'I think we were all in a little disbelief at first. It had been 22 years but on a daily basis we had not been waiting,' he told DailyMail.com
He immediately sprang into action and began working on the logistics of bringing his father's body home.
However, the US embassy in Peru, who were helpful in the initial search more than two decades ago, just offered a list of funeral homes.
The son of an American mountaineer Bill Stampfl (right) who disappeared in the Andes more than two decades ago has said the US embassy in Peru offered no help in recovering his father's body when it was found last month. Pictured: Bill with his wife Janet and son Joseph
Rescuers working to recover Bill's body from the mountain last week
Bill died with friends Matthew Richardson and Steve Erskine when they attempted to ascend the more than 22,000ft high mountain in 2002.
Ryan Cooper, his brother and guide Daniel Milla Lliuya, part of Peru Mountains Climbing, found Bill in the Cordillera Blanca range during their descent of the mountain after his remains had been exposed by an ice melt.
They discovered him on June 27 near a camp which was 17,060ft above sea level.
Bill's body, as well as his clothes, harness and boots had been well-preserved by the ice and freezing temperatures.
His ID was found among his possessions, allowing for Cooper to identify him and contact his loved ones.
Joseph was shocked to hear his father's body had finally been found. 'To get that call first thing on a Saturday was pretty surreal. It took me a little while to process. At first I thought this was not real,' he said.
'When I called Ryan and spoke to him and he described the scenario, it became more real.
'I think throughout Saturday there were lots of emotional highs and lows. It was quite the rollercoaster.
'There was excitement that after all these years we could finally put my father to rest.'
Bill's son Joseph got a call from a stranger on June 29, almost exactly 22 years later, to say he had come across the climber's frozen body, as he made his own ascent up Huascaran
His body, as well as his clothes, harness and boots had been well-preserved by the ice and freezing temperatures. His ID was found among his possessions, allowing for the climbers to identify him
Bill was reported missing in June 2002, aged 59, when an avalanche buried his climbing party on Mount Huascaran. His remains were found this month after an ice melt
He immediately got in touch with his sister Jennifer before they all got on a call with his stepmother, uncle and Ryan.
They all then worked on the logistics of recovering Bill's body from the mountain and bringing him back to the US.
Joseph said he failed to get in touch with the US embassy over the weekend and the emergency phone number did not offer much assistance.
He had to wait until Monday before he got through and was disappointed at the response.
'Well is a funeral home going to climb the mountain and recover my dad's body?,' he said.
He gave up and began planning a way to bring his father home using a private search and rescue company called the Peruvian Mountain Rescue Association.
The team began the mission on July 4 and Joseph said: 'They were amazing, every hour they were giving us updates with logistics.'
He did not want to disclose the price his family paid to return his father's body but said: 'It was a significant amount, it was a little surprising. But we were going to pay for it for the most part.'
Police in Peru said on Tuesday they had recovered Bill's body from the mountain where he was buried by the avalanche.
A group of policemen and mountain guides put his body on a stretcher, covered it in an orange tarp, and slowly took it down the icy mountain.
The body was found at an altitude of 17,060 feet, about a nine-hour hike from one of the camps where climbers stop when they tackle Huascaran's steep summit.
A team of 13 mountaineers participated in the recovery operation - five officers from an elite police unit and eight mountain guides who work for Grupo Alpamayo, a local tour operator that takes climbers to Huascaran and other peaks in the Andes.
Eric Raul Albino, director of Grupo Alpamayo, said he was hired by Bill's family to retrieve the body.
The Stampfl family worked with local guides and authorities to recover his remains over the weekend. His body was then put in a morgue in the city of Huaraz. Pictured are rescuers during the recovery effort
Peruvian mountain police and mountain rescue workers transport the remains of American climber Bill down the mountain
Joseph was shocked to hear his father's body had finally been found in a phone call on June 29
Bill pictured his wife Janet Stampfl-Raymer
Lenin Alvardo, one of the police officers who participated in the recovery operation, said his clothes were still mostly intact.
The hip pouch with his driving license also contained a pair of sunglasses, a camera, a voice recorder and two decomposing $20 bills.
A gold wedding ring was still on the left hand. 'I've never seen anything like that' Alvarado said.
Bill's family organized a funeral home to bring him to Lima on Friday.
They drove more than seven hours to Huaraz and worked with the US embassy to get all the paperwork signed.
Bill will be cremated before his ashes are sent back on a plane to the US along with his personal items.
'We were warned it could take 20 days but they are way ahead of schedule. We anticipate we'll get him back some time next week- probably on Monday,' Joseph said.
He added that the family do not have definitive plans for a funeral service yet but they are looking to spread some of his ashes on Mount Baldy, near his home in San Bernardino County, California.
Joseph said his father would train here and used to climb the stairs in his home by carrying 30 kilograms of sand in his backpack.
Erskine's body was found shortly after the avalanche, but Richardson's is still missing.
Bill (left) died with friends Matthew Richardson and Steve Erskine (right) when they attempted to ascend the more than 22,000ft high mountain in 2002.
The body of Erskine (left) was found shortly after the avalanche, but Richardson's is still missing
Bill will be cremated before his ashes are sent back on a plane to the US along with his personal items
The mountains of northeastern Peru, home to snowy peaks such as Huascaran and Cashan, are a favorite with mountaineers from around the world.
Hundreds of climbers visit the mountain each year with local guides, and it takes them about a week to reach the summit.
There has been an increase in the discoveries of remains of missing hikers, skiers and climbers as glaciers increasingly melt worldwide.
The Andes are home to some of the fastest-disappearing glaciers and ice packs in the world, a study by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization revealed last year.
Over the last 40 years, the region has reportedly lost between 30 and 50 percent of its ice cover, with some of the area's 'most valuable' glaciers having disappeared.