Pomona College Professor Found Dead In Kings Canyon National Park

Alfred Kwok, an associate professor at Pomona College, was found dead on Tuesday in Kings Canyon National Park, reports the L.A. Times. The 50-year-old Claremont resident was reported missing after he'd failed to show up for his planned return on Sunday.

His body was found on the upper southwest face of Deerhorn Mountain.

A release from the National Parks Service said that Kwok had planned on hiking from Onion Valley in Inyo National Forest into Kings Canyon National Park. And from there he'd climb Deerhorn Mountain (which peaks at 13,270 feet) and return the same way.

Zach Behrens, a public information officer for Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, told KPCC that the body couldn't be removed until Wednesday because of weather conditions and other obstacles. The cause of Kwok's death remains under investigation.

Kwok was born in Hong Kong and came to the U.S. for college, a colleague told the Times. He'd earned a doctorate at Yale.

At Pomona College he taught physics and astronomy, and had been a member of the faculty since 2000, according to the college's website. The website said that students and faculty gathered at a room in the Physics department and wrote down their thoughts on Kwok. One message said: "Anything he loved in life, he always wanted to share, whether it was physics or food or hiking."