by Frank Imhoff, ELCA News Service
On the evening of July 23, 2006, the family of Jon Francis, youth
ministry director, Ascension Lutheran Church, Ogden, Utah,
decided to call off the search for Francis, who went missing July
15, 2006, after reaching the peak of Grand Mogul in Idaho's
Sawtooth Mountains. The remains of Francis were found one year
later.
"The family of Jon Francis, missing climber, confirms that his
remains were found Tuesday afternoon (July 24) on the north face
of Grand Mogul in the Sawtooth mountain range of Idaho,"
according to a July 26, 2007, entry on the Web site of the Jon
Francis Foundation. An article in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune
said searchers working for the Francis family found the remains
about 1,200 feet below the peak. The paper said the family is
planning a private funeral.
Francis, 24, was serving as assistant program director at the
Luther Heights Bible Camp near Ketchum, Idaho, for the summer of
2006. A native of Stillwater, Minn., Francis graduated in 2004
from Augustana College, Sioux Falls, S.D., one of 28 colleges and
universities of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
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About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:
The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with 2.8 million members in more than 8,500 worshiping communities across the 50 states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church of "God's work. Our hands.," the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA's roots are in the writings of the German church reformer Martin Luther.
For information contact:
Candice Hill Buchbinder
Public Relations Manager
Candice.HillBuchbinder@ELCA.org
