The body of a man who disappeared during an avalanche on Peru’s highest mountain has been found, 22 years later.

Bill Stampfl was climbing Peru’s 22,000-foot tall mountain, Huascaran, in 2002 when an avalanche struck, CBS News reported. His family knew that he was likely dead, but without a body, they could never know for sure.

Stampfl’s daughter, Jennifer, told The New York Times that she had largely accepted her father’s death but still had dreams that he was alive in Peru with amnesia and unaware of his family back in the U.S.

Stampfl’s son, Joseph, recently received a phone call from a stranger, Ryan Cooper, saying that he had found Stampfl’s body while climbing Huascaran. Cooper explained that he had found Stampfl’s body frozen but mostly intact.

“It was so out of left field. We talk about my dad, we think about him all the time,” Joseph told CBS. “You just never think you are going to get that call.”

Joseph soon called his sister to deliver the news.

“He told me that they found Dad,” she told the Times. “And I said, ‘What?’”

On June 27, Cooper and a group of climbers were making their way back down Huascaran when they saw a dark shape sitting atop the snow. He told the Times that as they approached, they realized they had discovered a body that was curled into a defensive position as if the person was trying to shield themself from an avalanche.

Cooper told the Times that the body was sitting atop the ice. “Not like half of him was under the ice or anything — he was on top of the ice,” he told the outlet.

Cooper added that the body appeared mummified, and it was clear it had been on the mountain for a “really long time.” The climbers checked a fanny pack on the body and found Stampfl’s still-legible ID card and passport. Cooper and his brother, the only two Americans in the group of climbers, decided to track down Stampfl’s family to deliver the news.

“He still had his wedding ring on his finger,” he said, “So I knew he was married, and I knew he probably had a family and somebody was expecting him home at some point. And he didn’t come home.”

Cooper told the Times that it was a coincidence they found Stampfl’s body. They couldn’t make it to the top of the mountain due to weather conditions, so they decided to take a rarely used older route down, which is how they found the body.

Cooper told the outlet he was initially disappointed about failing to reach the mountain’s summit.

“But after things worked out the way that they did, I realized I wasn’t meant to summit,” he said. “I was meant to find Bill.”

Before Cooper had even descended the mountain, he contacted his wife in Las Vegas to begin tracking down Stampfl’s family. Two days later, Cooper was on the phone with Joseph.

Stampfl’s body was recovered and is set to be cremated before being returned to his family. His wife, Janet, told CBS she is happy to bring her husband home.

“We all just dearly loved my husband. He was one of a kind,” she told the outlet. “We’re very grateful we can bring his body home to rest.”

“Black Panther” star Letitia Wright — who is an executive producer of “Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot” — blasted The Daily Wire’s partnership with Angel Studios to release the hit movie, prompting a direct response from Daily Wire co-CEO Jeremy Boreing. 

“Sound of Hope” was released in theaters on July 4 and quickly took off, surpassing box office expectations and bringing in $6.8 million over the holiday weekend. Despite the film’s success in bringing attention to the foster care crisis, some on the Left focused on Angel Studios’ partnership with The Daily Wire. Wright released a statement on social media, saying she is “in no way aligned or affiliated with” the conservative company. 

Multiple Hollywood news outlets, including Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, Entertainment Weekly, and Variety, covered Wright’s rebuke of the Angel Studios-Daily Wire partnership. 

“To be clear, after we completed the production of this film, Angel Studios were brought on board to handle its distribution and they later partnered with The Daily Wire. That was not my decision, and I was not given an update or made aware of this decision. I am in no way aligned or affiliated with The Daily Wire,” Wright wrote on Instagram. “It’s a shame to see pockets of discourse online take a divisive political turn. This story isn’t about politics, it’s about children. Any conversation that detracts from that is unnecessary and harmful.” 

“I am thankful for all who want to positively champion this film and campaign to serve children,” Wright added. “However, I do not condone using this beautiful film for divisive political purposes. That is not why I joined the project.”

Boreing, who announced his company’s partnership with Angel Studios on “Sound of Hope” last month, responded, saying that even if there are political differences between Wright and the conservative media outlet, it’s more important to focus on the film’s message of “a community banding together to help kids in need.” 

“On its opening day – July 4th – Sound of Hope was one of the highest grossing films nationwide, second only to Disney’s biggest release of the year. This movie is tracking to be huge and has the potential to launch a movement to end America’s foster crisis,” Boreing wrote on X. “The Daily Wire is truly honored to partner with Angel Studios on such an important project. But, such is the intolerance of the modern left that instead of celebrating this accomplishment and all it might mean, one of the film’s producers, Letitia Wright of Black Panther fame, used the occasion to condemn The Daily Wire’s involvement in sharing this message across the country.” 

“Letitia and I probably don’t share the same politics, but I believe we share a Christian faith and, more importantly, the same goal of shining a light on something we can all agree on – a community banding together to help kids in need,” Boreing added. “We hope people don’t allow this distraction to steal from the message from the film and the impact it can have. Everyone should see this movie and join the fight for kids. It’s too important not to.” 

Angel Studios President Jordan Harmon also responded to Wright’s statement, saying, “This powerful film takes a stand for vulnerable kids, and we’re pursuing partners who are passionate about this fight. Angel Studios is grateful for both Letitia and Daily Wire’s partnership on getting this story out into the world, and everyone concerned about the foster care and adoption crisis to get involved and see Sound of Hope.”

“Sound of Hope” is based on the inspiring true story of Donna and Reverend Martin, a couple who joined 22 families from their rural black church in the small East Texas town of Possum Trot to adopt 77 of the most difficult-to-place kids in the foster system.

The movie sits at an impressive 98% Rotten Tomatoes audience score and an A+ CinemaScore rating.