Bodies of 2 snowmobilers found at bottom of cliff

The bodies of a Prairie man and a Boise man were found Monday morning at the bottom of a cliff about two miles south of Prairie.

The men were initially identified as Phil Taylor of Prairie and John Liggett of Boise. Both are believed to be in their late 50s.

Both men had been snowmobiling in the area and were last seen by friends in Prairie on Friday. Monday those friends became concerned when they hadn't seen the two men and began looking for them.

The snowmobiles the two men were riding were found at the top of the cliff. Their bodies were spotted about 100 feet below the edge of the cliff (initial reports said 600), Deputy Latreyda Schulz said. Authorities were notified early Monday morning and immediately began a recovery effort.

County Search and Rescue teams were called out, and the Mountain Search and Rescue unit was called in to assist them because of the high-angle difficulty of the terrain in reaching the bodies. Recovery of the bodies was expected to take at least until late afternoon or early evening Monday. The area is covered in 2-3 feet of snow.

Schulz said that it appears, from footprints in the snow, that the two got off their machines to look over the edge of the cliff. Slide marks indicate one of the men may have slipped and authorities "are pretty sure" the other man may have reached out to grab him and both then went over the cliff wall.

No further details were immediately available.