A body found on a remote mountain in southwest China on Wednesday has been confirmed as that of missing US climber Charlie Fowler, said a local mountaineering association source on Saturday.

The body was jointly identified by both Chinese and US rescuers.

Fowler, 52, and fellow climber Christine Boskoff, 39, had disappeared since November and failed to catch their return flights home on Dec. 7.

Liu Feng, a liaison worker with the Sichuan Mountaineering Association, said rescuers had found no signs of Boskoff, despite a thorough search within a radius of 20 to 30 meters from the body.

The body was moved to the county site of Litang, and would be taken to Kangting in two days, capital of Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, for cremation, said Liu.

Representatives from the US Consulate-General in Chengdu, Sichuan's provincial capital, and officials from the Sichuan provincial government have arrived at the county site to deal with the remaining issues.

The body was found around 5:00 PM Wednesday at an altitude of 5,300 meters on 6,204-meter-high Genyen Mountain in Sichuan Province.

The upper part of the body was mainly buried in snow, but the legs remained exposed. The cause of death was likely to have been an avalanche, said Liu.

The luggage of the missing US climbers was found by rescuers at a remote village in Lamaya Town near Genyen Mountain during door-to-door inquiries on Dec. 22.

(Xinhua News Agency December 31, 2006)