a day ago
St. Paul woman asks help to find ex missing while climbing Andes in Peru
A St. Paul woman and local university researcher has set up a GoFundMe account to help in the search for her former husband and Minnesota resident, after he went missing while climbing a mountain in the Peruvian Andes.
Natalia Mossmann Koch of St. Paul said that her former husband, Edson Vandeira, is a professional mountaineer who was on the mountain for practice.
Vandeira, a native of Brazil and a former Minnesotan, was with two other climbers from Peru. The three were part of an expedition with recognized technical expertise.
The trio has been missing since June 1 on Artesonraju Mountain, which is reportedly one of the most demanding peaks in the Cordillera Blanca, a mountain range in the Peruvian Andes.
The team's tent was found empty and there are 'signs that the group had reached the summit and that something serious had possibly happened during the descent,' according to the fundraiser, which had raised nearly $3,500 as of Friday.
When her former husband and the two other climbers didn't return on June 1, Koch set up a GoFundMe at ( to provide aid to rescue teams that are searching for Edson.
'The search is in full swing,' Koch wrote. 'Rescue teams are being mobilized urgently, involving local climbers, guides, police officers, friends and family. However, high mountain rescue is extremely complex, demanding intense logistics, specific equipment, food, high altitude travel and a lot of human and technical commitment.'
The money raised, Koch wrote, will cover the operational costs of the rescue and the costs of family members traveling to Peru.
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