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Missing Virginian’s body recovered in Peru

Posted at 10:21 PM, Jul 29, 2012
and last updated 2012-07-29 22:21:55-04

LIMA, Peru (WTVR) - The bodies of a missing Virginia mountain climber and his hiking partner were discovered in the mountains of Peru after something apparently went terribly wrong during their descent.

WJLA-TV reportsthe bodies of Ben Horne, 32, of Annandale, Virginia, and Gil Weiss, 29, of Queens, N.Y., were found late Saturday afternoon.

The experienced climbers had been trying to scale a 20,000-foot mountain, about 275 miles northeast of Lima.

A friend says the pair must have fallen during their descent off a ridge near the west summit of Palcaraju in the Cordillera Blanca range. [BONUS LINK: Gil Weiss, Ben Horne found dead in Peru (WJLA-TV)]

The men had been missing since mid-July. Rescue crews found their bodies late Saturday afternoon.

Horne's father was in Peru Sunday to bring his son's body back home.