Yosemite hiker Kenneth Stensby found dead at cliff bottom in Yosemite

A hiker who went missing in Yosemite National Park has been found dead at the bottom of a cliff, authorities said.

Rangers found the body of 73-year-old Kenneth Stensby of Edina, Minn., at the base of a cliff next to the park's Veal Fall, where he had apparently fallen after stopping to take a photo, park officials said.

Search crews had found his backpack on Sunday at the top of the waterfall. His camera was not in the pack.

His body was removed from the area around 1 p.m. Tuesday, a day after it was spotted from the air, according to park officials.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that Stensby was president and chief executive officer of United Properties, a Minneapolis-based real estate company, from 1974 until taking early retirement in January 1995.

Stensby had been in the park for several days and was staying at the Ahwahnee Hotel, park officials said. He left a note with the concierge each moing outlining his daily plan.

On Sunday, his note stated that he was planning to hike to the top of Veal Fall on the Mist Trail and retu to the hotel around noon, according to park officials. Apparently he fell from the top, officials said.

Hotel staff attempted to contact Stensby around 5:00 p.m. that evening, and discovered he had not retued. They then contacted the National Park Service.

The search effort included dogs and a Califoia Highway Patrol helicopter.

Three young tourists were swept over Veal Fall in 2011 after one of them slipped on a rock. Her two friends fell while trying to save her.