Scotts Bluff County Sheriff Mark Overman says the man who fell from a trail at Scotts Bluff National Monument Sunday afternoon was a rural Scottsbluff man whose family hadn’t seen him for about 2 weeks, but hadn’t reported him as missing.

Overman says an autopsy confirmed that 22 year old Cody Bindschadler died from blunt force trauma consistent with a fall from 75-to-100 feet with no foul play suspected…although the investigation into the fall and his earlier disappearance is continuing.

Scotts Bluff National Monument Superintendent Ken Mabry says Bindschadler’s body was found after a visitor walking the trail spotted a piece of clothing about 100-feet down a slope some 50-to-75 feet east of the trail’s tunnel.  Mabery says the clothing “mostly blended with the landscape,” with only a small patch sticking out.

Because death is so rare at Scotts Bluff National Monument, park rangers have discussed if there was anything they could have done to avoid the death, and Mabery says from what they know now, there wasn’t since Bindschadler apparently fell from a dangerous area barred to the public above and to the east of  the Saddle Rock Trail.

Sheriff Overman says Gering police first became aware of that Bindschadler was missing after his parked vehicle was found a week ago Saturday on the 17th.  An officer spoke with his family, who said they hadn’t seen him for a long time but hadn’t asked for police assistance.