Stanford professor accused of domestic abuse blames disappearance on hiking mishap

A Stanford biology professor accused of assaulting his then-girlfriend in 2022 blamed his recent overdue return from a backpacking trip in Washington state on having slipped on a snowy slope, leaving him “disoriented and lost” for days in the wilderness.

Hunter Fraser, 44, issued his first public statement since being found Sunday on the east side of Olympic National Park, days after he was scheduled to return from a 40-mile trek. His disappearance — during which court officials say he missed a hearing in Santa Clara County concerning the domestic violence case — prompted a massive search by authorities that spanned more than 70 miles of trails in northwest Washington.

Fraser runs the Fraser Laboratory at Stanford while also working for Bio-X, Stanford’s interdisciplinary biosciences institute. He also is involved in the Maternal & Child Health Research Institute, the Stanford Cancer Institute and the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute.

He was charged with inflicting corporal injury after an incident on July 4, 2022, involving Fraser’s girlfriend of more than five years. The couple, who had gotten into an argument the previous day, were playing a game with Fraser’s young daughter at their Stanford apartment when Fraser allegedly slammed a door into his girlfriend, striking her in the chest with the handle, according to a Stanford University Department of Public Safety incident report.

The girlfriend told police Fraser also threw her to the ground prior to hitting her with the door, the report stated. While the case was originally charged as a misdemeanor, prosecutors later upgraded the charge to a felony, court records show.

In his statement Wednesday, Fraser denied the allegations, adding that “I am eager for all the facts to come out in court.”

Fraser said that after slipping and hitting his head, he walked 15 hours a day for two days while “deeply fatigued and losing hope.” He said he eventually found a trail that wasn’t on his map, but after hiking for a day on that trail, doubled back on a different trail.

His ordeal ended when he reached a road and found two hikers, who gave him food and drove him to the nearest ranger station. In his statement, Fraser said he “found strength in knowing that each step I took could bring me one step closer to seeing my daughter again.”

Fraser said he has been recovering with his family, but did not elaborate.

Fraser said the court hearing scheduled for June 9 had already been postponed prior to him being reported missing. The judge overseeing his case continued the matter until June 28 after “consulting with all parties,” according to Sandip Patel, supervising deputy district attorney.