National Park Service rangers recovered human remains near Crystal Rapid along the Colorado River in Grand Canyon National Park, authorities said. The remains have not been identified, and officials say no other information is currently available.
According to KTAR News 92.3 FM, rangers responded near Crystal Rapid after the remains were found and subsequently recovered them for further examination. The remains have since been transferred to the Coconino County Medical Examiner's Office, the outlet reports.
Crystal Rapid sits at River Mile 98 along the Colorado River at the confluence of Crystal Creek and Slate Creek, according to National Park Service Incident Reports. The rapid itself has a violent origin story: a December 1966 storm produced debris flows, especially from Crystal Canyon, and the resulting debris fan constricted the river, per Grand Canyon River History. That geology makes it one of the most technical stretches along the river's course through the park.
A Canyon Still Reeling From Flash Flooding
The discovery lands just two weeks after a catastrophic flash flood tore through nearby Bright Angel Canyon and into the Colorado River on August 29, killing two hikers, triggering 62 evacuations as of the morning of August 30, and heavily damaging inner-canyon trails and bridges, according to the National Park Service. The floodwaters flowed into the Colorado River.
In the aftermath, search and rescue crews spent more than a week combing the river corridor for 53-year-old Timothy Smith of Granbury, Texas, who remained the final missing hiker unaccounted for from the storm as of September 9, according to the Washington Post. Smith had been hiking with two companions whose bodies were recovered shortly after the flood. Park officials have not publicly linked the newly recovered remains near Crystal Rapid to Smith or to any other individual.
The same flood destroyed nearly all footbridges across Bright Angel Creek and severely damaged the Transcanyon Waterline, forcing park officials to institute Stage 4 water restrictions across the South Rim, per the National Park Service. Hoodline previously reported on the flood's toll in Grand Canyon Flash Flood Forces Airlift of roughly 50 people from Phantom Ranch.
Identification Can Take Years in the Canyon
Resolving the identity of remains pulled from the Grand Canyon's river corridor is often a slow process. As recently as July, DNA analysis positively identified remains recovered in the park as belonging to William Ott, a hiker who had disappeared in May 2012, according to KTAR News. That case involved remains recovered in the park and identified years after a disappearance.
Grand Canyon National Park records fatalities, per the National Park Service. Nationally, fatalities have also occurred across the U.S. National Park System.
For now, the person recovered near Crystal Rapid remains unidentified, and the National Park Service has provided no other information about the discovery.
