A woman was found dead at the Grand Canyon National Park after a flash flood swept through a campsite, park officials said in a statement Friday.
Rebecca Copeland, 29, of Ann Arbor, Michigan, was on a rafting group on Wednesday that set up its overnight camp at a site about a quarter-mile from the canyon, National Park Service spokeswoman Kaitlyn Thomas told the Associated Press. It’s not clear that the rafting group was aware of the flash flood watch issued Wednesday.
A different rafting group found Copeland and a second person who was reported missing, the park officials statement said. Five injured people were evacuated by air from the canyon, and one is in critical condition.
Tourists enjoy the breathtaking view of the Grand Canyon from the South Rim side on August 24, 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by DANIEL SLIM/AFP via Getty Images)
Thomas told the AP the injured were “very seriously bludgeoned by debris,” and didn’t know whether the other group was actively searching for Copeland at the time. “I am confident that the river community did know something was up but I imagine they were on the lookout.”
The National Park Service said they are investigating the incident with the Coconino County medical examiner. (RELATED: America’s Iconic National Parks Need Billions In Repairs: ‘Roads Are Crumbling, Bridges Aren’t In Great Shape’)
The Grand Canyon National Park Service didn’t respond to an immediate request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
There have been multiple incidents of people dying while hiking on the Grand Canyon. Two men died in June while hiking with one case being heat-related.
A 53-year-old woman who was hiking died due to suspected heat-related causes, and Arizona police recovered in March a body 465 feet below the rim of the Grand Canyon.
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