Hikers on Monday turned over to police a computer, camping equipment and a backpack found near the body of an unidentified man on Pearl Pass Road 14 miles south of Aspen.

Investigators with the Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office were able to obtain a name associated with the computer, a MacBook Pro that was wrapped in plastic inside the backpack and was fully functioning despite an unknown amount of time outside, said deputy Brad Gibson.

“That’s the way the person stored it,” he said.

But authorities cannot say definitively that the name on the computer is the same as the man’s, Gibson said. No other identification was found in the backpack or the clothes that it also held, and the identity of the man remained unknown Monday.

The body was found Friday afternoon by a woman hiking with her dog. The group that turned over the items found them and reported the discovery to the sheriff’s office on April 30. They said they never saw the body, Gibson said. Authorities believe the man’s body had been covered in snow.

An autopsy Saturday also did not reveal the man’s identity nor the cause of death, though deputies have said there are no apparent signs of trauma. Toxicology results are pending.

Authorities put the age of the Caucasian man at between 35 and 60 years old; he was about 6 feet tall and weighed 165 pounds, and had half-inch to inch-long grayish brown hair that was balding in the front. The man also had a full beard and a size-12 hiking boot, and was wearing bicycle-related clothing.

The partially decomposed remains were found near a creek; a lawn chair was nearby. How long the body was there is unknown.

“Hardly any personal information” was stored on the computer, which also carried no photographs, Gibson said. The computer, backpack and camping gear, including a sleeping bag, were about 100 yards from where the body was found.

“There is information on it,” Gibson said of the computer, but declining to elaborate on its contents. “It’s going to certainly help us, I hope.”

No missing-person reports have been filed with the sheriff’s office in the past several months, another deputy said Saturday. Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the sheriff’s office at 920-5300.

Pearl Pass Road is located near the end of Castle Creek Road, in an area heavily used by winter and summer recreationalists.

chad@aspendailynews.com [1]