Body recovered on Smith Creek |
| June 5, 2013 |
|
A body believed to be that of a man who
committed suicide December 30, 2012, by jumping
off a high cliff into Smith Creek was discovered
near a picnic area there Tuesday afternoon and the
partially skeletonized remains were successfully recovered. While confirmation by the Boundary County Coroner is pending, the remains are believed to be those of Richard Allen Corday, 66, who was the subject of a week-long search in early January after a Smith Creek Hydro employee found a fanny pack on the bank, and saw tracks scrabbled to the top of the falls. Deputies found pair of empty shoes at the top, but environmental conditions, rough terrain and high water thwarted the search effort. Based on notes and letters found in his home, Corday, who had never been married, lost his will to live when his last companion, the dog he loved, was killed in what he believed was a cougar attack. His last surviving relative, his mother, had died two years earlier. "By the letters we found, that was the primary reason he decided he had nothing left to live for," said Boundary County Chief Deputy Sheriff Rich Stevens during the initial search. The body was discovered shortly after 5 p.m. and sheriff's deputies, Boundary Search and Dive Rescue and the Sheriff's Posse made the recovery. |