Blaine County authorities continued Tuesday to investigate the death of Patrick Schwab, a 53-year-old Bellevue man whose body was found Sunday afternoon in Parker Gulch in the Elkhorn foothills.
"We're still doing the autopsy," Blaine County Coroner Russell Mikel said Tuesday afternoon. "We're not yet certain of the cause of death or the manner of death."
The Blaine County Sheriff's Office reported that it was unknown if foul play was involved.
"We're still investigating the circumstances of his death," said sheriff's Detective Steve Harkins. "We treat every case as a homicide so that we don't overlook things. Anytime we have an unattended death we treat it as a homicide until it can be concluded otherwise. But based upon the investigation right now, I don't believe it's a homicide."
Authorities have not released information regarding possible external injuries.
Schwab's body was discovered around 2 p.m. Sunday in thick willow growth near Parker Gulch Road and beyond the city limits of Sun Valley. Schwab was property manager for a home in the area and occasionally parked his vehicle there to go hunting.
His vehicle was discovered unattended at the home late Friday night or early Saturday morning. Some 30 Blaine County Search and Rescue personnel and friends of the family were involved in the search on Saturday and the number nearly doubled the following day.
Searchers, some on horseback and others on foot, thoroughly searched the area in two-person teams until the body was discovered about a half-mile from Schwab's vehicle.
"He apparently had gone to do some grouse hunting and did not return and was found dead in the area where he was hunting," Mikel said.
Memorial Service
A memorial service for Patrick Schwab is scheduled for 4 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 30, at St. Charles Catholic Church in Hailey. A Celebration of Life will follow at Mahoney's Bar & Grill in Bellevue. In lieu of flowers, donations for Schwab's family are being accepted at any U.S. Bank in the Wood River Valley.
