Body of one of three missing Oregon climbers found

LOS ANGELES, Dec 18 (Reuters) The body of one of three climbers missing for more than a week on Mount Hood in Oregon has been found, a spokesman for the Hood River County Sheriff's Department said.

Sheriff's Department officials will determine if the search will continue.

The body was found yesterday in a snow cave apparently dug by one or more of the hikers to provide shelter from bone-chilling temperatures.

The men began ascending the 11,235-foot (3,423-metre) Mount Hood on December 7. Their last known position was about 1,000 feet (300 metres) below the summit, based on a signal from a cell phone picked up early on Tuesday morning.

Two of the missing men -- Brian Hall, 38, and Kelly James, 48 -- are from Dallas, and the other, Jerry Cooke, 36, is from Brooklyn, New York.

REUTERS PDS BST0628