US national parks see increase in number of suicides

Business executive Bruce J. Colburn, newly unemployed, traveled to a national park in the far northwestern corner of Montana to end his life.

Early in October, Colburn hired a hotel clerk to take him to Glacier National Park, where he stayed at a campground overnight. The following day he walked to a valley situated between two glacial lakes, where he shot himself in the chest, according to park service officials.

Although the motivation for his suicide remains unclear, investigators found searches on the 53-year-old Pennsylvania resident’s computer regarding suicides in Glacier Park, according to the ranger operations chief at Glacier National Park, Patrick Suddath.

“He clearly intended to come here for that purpose,” added Suddath, who led the search for the man when he was reported missing.

At least 33 people ended their lives in a national park in the U.S. in 2008. Although the number is higher than in other years recently, the National Park Service says that it hasn’t consistently tracked suicides.

“It’s some place where, toward the end of someone’s life, when they’re feeling a total sense of despondency, they want to return to a place of natural beauty … for their final moments,” said Suddath.

More than 274 million people visited the country’s 391 national parks in 2008, according to park service statistics.

Thanks to news.yahoo.com for the above quotes, for more information on this article please visit their website.

www.nps.gov