8th Person Dies at Grand Canyon in Less Than 6 Weeks

UPDATE Sep 11, 2024 1:00 AM CDT

Shortly after its seventh death since July 31, the Grand Canyon saw its eighth: The body of a 71-year-old man who went missing while on a boat trip at the national park was found Tuesday, the AP reports. His remains have not been formally identified, and the incident is under investigation. His death is the park's 16th this year.

Sep 10, 2024 2:30 AM CDT

Another person died at the Grand Canyon over the weekend, in what officials say is the seventh death at the national park in little more than five weeks. Patrick Horton, 59, of Colorado was on the tenth day of a noncommercial, self-guided trip along the Colorado River when others in the party found his body near the river around 5:30am Saturday, NBC News reports. His cause of death has not yet been released. It comes on the heels of six other deaths since July 31:

• A North Carolina college student who fell to his death near a scenic viewpoint on July 31.
• A BASE jumper who died trying to parachute into the park on August 1.
• A New Mexico woman whose body was found August 6.

• An Arizona woman who was swept away in a flash flood August 22.
• An 80-year-old man whose boat flipped in the Colorado River August 25.
• A North Carolina hiker found dead August 28.

Prior to that, three hikers died in a three-week period amid high temperatures earlier in the summer. In all, at least 15 people have died in the Grand Canyon so far this year, the New York Times reports. The average number of deaths in the park per year is 17. (More Grand Canyon stories.)