The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has positively identified a man whose body was found earlier this year on the Appalachian Trail in Fannin County.
The GBI identified the hiker as 41-year-old Pennsylvania resident Stephen Lucas Ryan. His body was discovered on January 21, 2022, off the Benton MacKaye Trail on Springer Mountain.
This past March, investigators asked the public for help to identify the then-unknown hiker. The Bureau released a forensic sketch of the man and photos of his clothes and other items with which he was found.
“This identification was made because of the work of the FBI, GBI Crime Lab and the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs),” the GBI tweeted on Monday. “Thank you to those that shared information to help identify the hiker.”
Authorities have not said how Ryan died but did not indicate that foul play was suspected.
