BASE Jumper Found Dead After Leap from 12,000-Foot Peak: He Had Said His Wingsuit Could Be 'Tricky'

Mar. 15, 2025

Photo:Leonardo Durant/Instagram

Leonardo Durant/Instagram

A BASE jumper has been found dead after he went missing when he leapt off of a California mountaintop late last month, authorities said.

Leonardo Durant’s body was recovered in early September with the coordination of multiple agencies, the Mono County Sheriff’s Officesaid in a statement on Facebookon Saturday, Sept. 7.

Durant’s jumping partner had reported him missing after he leapt from the 12,241-foot peak on Saturday, Aug. 31, officials said. Soon after, the sheriff’s office deployed a search and rescue team.

Due to the large search area, a California Highway Patrol helicopter was requested from the Fresno area to assist with the search, the sheriff’s office said.

The helicopter soon found Durant’s body, situated on a craggy slope of the mountain, but the aircraft could not hoist him up due to the “altitude, location, slope angle, weather and rock type,” according to the sheriff’s office.

After enlisting Yosemite Search and Rescue, a helicopter rescue team from the agency was able to retrieve Durant’s body and transferred him to the coroner’s office.

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He most recently documented a free fall from a mountain in South Africa in May.

On his Instagram account, he shared a glimpse of his motivation for pursuing the extreme sport.

“Poised. Dropping in. Catching that perfect angle,” Durant wrote alongside a video of a jump. “The wingsuit start can be a tricky thing. Unforgiving of flaws. But rewarding when nailed.”

source: people.com