Missing Ore. Teen Confirmed Dead

HOOD RIVER, Ore.

Ten months after Corey Fay disappeared on an elk-hunting trip east of Mount Hood, authorities have confirmed that he died in the snowy wilderness while hundreds of searchers looked for him.

Wasco County Sheriff Art Labrousse said yesterday that remains found last week in the Badger Creek Wilderness were those of the 17-year-old. The state medical examiner's office made the determination by comparing a tooth found at the scene to Fay's dental records, Labrousse said.

Searchers from Hood River and Wasco counties found bone fragments and a tooth Thursday, one day after deer hunters found a rifle, backpack, hunting license, compass and clothing belonging to Fay.

The items were found 8 to 10 miles away and about 3,000 feet above the elevation where the teen-ager last was seen. Snow covered the area last November.

Kim Fary, Corey's mother, said the family believes he died of hypothermia after becoming disoriented and walking uphill into a snowy area.