Body of Missing Hiker in Grand Canyon Is Found

UPDATE Aug 26, 2024 5:33 AM CDT

The body of a 33-year-old Arizona woman who disappeared during a flash flood in Grand Canyon National Park has been found, reports the New York Times. Chenoa Nickerson of Gilbert was swept into the water near the confluence of the Colorado River and Havasu Creek while hiking on Thursday. On Sunday, rafters spotted her body in the river, and park rangers recovered it, per a release from the National Park Service.

Aug 24, 2024 1:55 PM CDT

Search and rescue crews at Grand Canyon National Park were searching for an Arizona woman nearly two days after she was swept into a creek during a flash flood, the woman's sister said on social media Saturday. Chenoa Nickerson of Gilbert was hiking in Havasu Creek, about a half-mile from where it meets up with the Colorado River, when the flash flood struck early Thursday afternoon, the AP reports. The National Park Service said the 33-year-old stayed overnight at a campground near the village of Supai on the Havasupai reservation, deep in a gorge off the Grand Canyon.

The flood trapped several hikers above and below Beaver Falls, one of a series of usually blue-green waterfalls that draw tourists to the Havasupai Tribe's reservation. The area is prone to flooding that turns its iconic waterfalls chocolate brown. Other hikers made it to the village, about 2 miles from the campground. Gov. Katie Hobbs activated the Arizona National Guard, including Blackhawk helicopters, to evacuate hikers from the village. Tamara Morales, the missing hiker's sister, noted the National Guard deployment in a post on Facebook and praised rescue crews with the National Park Service for "navigating incredibly dangerous terrain with extremely limited methods of communication while leaving no stone unturned."

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The Havasupai Tribe's reservation is one of the most remote in the continental US, accessible only by foot, mule, or helicopter. The Tribal Council closed the steep, winding trail that leads to the reservation after the flooding and asked visitors with permits through Sunday not to come. "We kindly ask for your patience as we see to the health and safety of the tourists and the Tribal members," the tribe's tourism department said on its Facebook page. Nickerson was not wearing a life jacket when the flash flood hit, per NBC News. (Three people died at the Grand Canyon within a week earlier this month.)