Hiker Dies in Accidental Fall at Grand Canyon National Park
TIME: 05:46PM Wednesday February 29,2012
FROM：oldwestnewwest.com
A 300-fall down the side of Owl Eyes
Canyon in Grand Canyon National Park claimed the life of a female hiker Feb. 26,
2012.
The woman was identified as 24-year-old Ioana Elise Hociota of
Tempe, Ariz.
According to park rangers, the Grand Canyon Regional
Communications Center received a report on Sunday that a female hiker had fallen
in Owl Eyes Canyon.
A National Park Service helicopter surveys part of the
Grand Canyon during a typical short-haul mission. NPS photo
Rangers quickly dispatched the park's
helicopter to the area, where an aerial search discovered a body below a cliff
in the Supai rock layer.
Rangers then responded to the scene via
helicopter where they began their investigations and prepared the body for
transport to the South Rim where it was transferred to the Coconino County
Medical Examiner.
According to Hociota's husband, while she and her
hiking partner were not using an established trail, they had hiked in the area
several times before, had acquired a backcountry permit from the National Park
Service, and were carrying a satellite phone.
When they missed a regular
check in call on Saturday evening, the husband told rangers that he was alerted
that there might be a problem.
On Sunday, he traveled to their
designated pick-up point where he met her hiking partner, learned of his wife's
fall and immediately notified park rangers.
Initial investigations
indicate that the fall was accidental. The investigation is being conducted by
the National Park Service with the assistance of the Coconino County Medical
Examiner.
No additional information was available at this time.
Nearly 5 million people visit Grand Canyon each year. Rangers respond to
a variety of reports of hikers falling off trails and slipping down the sides of
canyons, some of them fatal.
Hiking in the Grand Canyon is so demanding
that even people in excellent condition often emerge sore and fatigued. Rangers
urge hikers to use caution and be prepared.
