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Missing Houston hiker found in Wyoming forest died by suicide, coroner confirms

Coroners confirmed the cause of death of 46-year-old Robert ‘Bob’ Lowery, the missing Houston hiker who was found dead at a forest in Wyoming.

Teton County coroners said Thursday Lowery died by suicide, NBC News reported.

His body was found last month and family members were able to match to description of the missing Houston-area hiker, who was found near the Black Canyon trail in Bridger-Teton National Forest in Wyoming, NBC News reported.

The news comes more than a month after Lowery vanished while visiting Wyoming. Authorities said they received a tip that there had been a sighting of the Houston father back on August 20, 2021, on the Black Canyon Trail in Bridger-Teton National Forest, near Grand Teton National Park.

Lowery, a father of two, left Houston on Aug. 19 to explore Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

“Bob is a loving father of two amazing kids with who he has daily contact with. It is unlike him to be out of touch with them for this long. While his phone does still push to voicemail, we know the last activity was in and around the 20th of August,” wrote his sister, Leigh Lowery on Facebook.

Although his family had been searching for weeks, Teton County Sheriff’s Deputy Chad Sachse told Dateline the recent coverage of Gabby Petito is what aided in the tipsters coming forward with the new information.

KPRC 2 did confirm with the Teton County Sheriff’s Office that Lowery went missing 40 miles from where Petito’s body was found, but investigators don’t believe the two cases are connected.

Lowery’s family released the following statement on Tuesday:

The Teton County Sheriff’s Office informed our family this afternoon that the Search and Rescue Team located a body that fits the description of our son, Robert “Bob” Lowery near Black Canyon Trail. We await the Teton County, WY coroner’s report.

At this time, we especially want to thank Teton County Sheriff’s Deputy Chad Sachse and his department for all of their work during this month that Bob has been missing. We also appreciate the search today by Teton County Search and Rescue volunteer teams and the care and concern demonstrated by so many in the Jackson Hole news media and community.

Bob has been a wonderful father, son, brother and friend. Our family wants to thank the news media and others involved in the search for our privacy at this difficult time.

The family set up a children’s education fund on GoFundMe in remembrance of Lowery.


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