16, 2015, in Zion National Park, near Springdale, Utah.
Advertisement
Park officials confirmed that the last body of a group of seven people who went canyoneering in the Keyhole Canyon portion of Zion Nation Park Monday has been located.
Park spokesman David Eaker said the seventh body was found a few miles from popular Keyhole Canyon, in an area that had been off-limits until Thursday amid fears of more flooding. The rest of the victims, all in their 40s and 50s, were found earlier this week.
“The Park Service right now is focusing on the search and they are not identifying anybody until they’ve made sure they’ve identified all of the next of kin”, DeMille explained.
At that point, park authorities say there was no real way to contact them so as to caution them to the savage floodwaters coming their direction. The identities of the other victims have not yet been released by park officials, pending notification of family members.
Seven people were hiking in Keyhole Canyon Monday when the storms hit.
“Steve was known for his tireless efforts working with local youth both on and off duty and possessed a huge compassion for humanity”, the sheriff’s office said in a statement. He is survived by three adult children and seven grandchildren.
In 2010, two men who had reportedly meant to build a log raft and float down the Virgin River were found dead downstream.
“He was very dedicated to helping kids”, Dean said, “and had worked with them for years”.
Keyhole Canyon is what canyoneers call a “rap and swim” canyon, full of a series of drops where hikers rappel down into pools of water, said Colorado-based canyoneering expert Steve Allen.
Park spokeswoman Aly Baltrus said Wednesday that crews found the body downstream of Keyhole Canyon.
At least a dozen people have died in the floods. Search teams were still looking for a missing 6-year-old boy.
Officials say the group that departed Monday was warned that flash flooding was likely.
A short distance from the southern edge of Zion National Park in the twin towns of Hildale, Utah and Colorado City, Arizona residents are being asked to boil their water, following flash flooding there. Within the next hour, nearly two-thirds of an inch of rain fell; park officials deemed the situation too dangerous for rangers to risk going into the then-inundated canyon. It’s not uncommon in the polygamous sect for relatives to marry the same man. More details have surfaced as responders and authorities recover lost items and victims of the flood.
Authorities are searching for a man who has been missing since Monday, when flood waters hit the Arizona-Utah border.
Some 20 miles to the north at Zion National Park, the same storm system sent flash floods coursing through a narrow slot canyon, killing four people and leaving three others missing.
Advertisement
Even a small amount of rain can turn a trip deadly as the moisture runs off the desert landscape and fills the canyon with water, branches, rocks and debris.
