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Human bones found by climbers last year in upper Little Cottonwood Canyon have been identified as belonging to a man reported missing in 2012.

Corry Ehlers, 48, was last seen on May 21, 2012, when he told a friend he was going hiking in the Hellgate Cliffs area, Unified Police Department reported Wednesday.

At the time, Ehlers — described by police as an experienced hiker — was living in a condo in nearby Alta.

Then, on July 21, two climbers in the area found a weathered hiking boot, and bagged it as trash.

But when they returned home that night, they discovered foot bones inside the boot and called 911.

Several days later, Salt Lake County Search and Rescue crews, along with Unified Police officers, recovered additional bones during a day-long search of the scene, located in steep, rocky terrain across the road from the Alta Ski Resort.

Police said at the time they had an idea of who the victim was, but declined to say more until a positive identification was made.

Several months ago, a UPD detective told The Tribune that the bones had been sent to out-of-state lab for DNA testing.