JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. -- The search for a missing hiker in Jefferson County ended in a heartbreaking discovery Saturday afternoon. Police said they found the body of the 20-year-old who had been missing since Thursday night.

Jefferson County Sheriff's Office spokesman Mark Techmeyer said it appeared the man fell to his death.

"He took a great fall from a height. Whether he fell from the very top or was trying to climb halfway down and fell, we may never know that. Right now, we're finding nothing suspicious in this, just a tragic accident," said Techmeyer.

The hiker, identified as Kevin Roberts, of Denver, was reported missing Thursday evening around 8 p.m. Techmeyer said Roberts was hiking with three friends in Clear Creek Canyon, and was about 10 minutes ahead of them, when he disappeared from sight.

"Once he reached the peak they lost sight of him. When they got there he was gone, and on the other side of this peak is where it gets treacherous. It's really a lot of cliffs, a lot of rocks," Techmeyer said.

Dozens of search and rescuers spent Friday and Saturday looking for Roberts, including volunteers from the Alpine Rescue Team, Summit County, Arapahoe County, El Paso County, Larimer County, Jefferson County, along with the Boulder Fire Department and Water Rescue.

When a helicopter search turned up nothing on Friday, technical climbers were called in to help on Saturday to rappel down the most treacherous parts of the mountain, "looking in crevasses, deep shrubbery, anywhere they could to see if they could locate this man," said Techmeyer.

"You can see the terrain is rugged, steep, rocky, loose. It's dangerous," said Steve Wilson, with the Alpine Rescue Team. "Several teams encountered rattlesnakes all over the hillside."

The searchers found the body in some brush along the creek bed. It was just 200 feet from where Roberts was last seen alive.

"We were all disappointed. You always hope for the best. You always search for somebody who's going to be OK, and you always just hope maybe he stumbled out and got a ride home, or he's at a friend's house or something like that. To have it end this way is always disappointing," said Wilson.