Body of female hiker found after flash floods overwhelm Utah park
A friend says Jetal Agnihotri wanted to explore the picturesque Narrows gorge despite flood warnings issued for southern Utah on Friday.
In this Saturday, Sept. 5, 2009 file photo, throngs of hikers trek through the Virgin River along The Narrows in Zion National Park, Utah. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)
The body of a missing hiker from Arizona who got swept up amid flash flooding in Utah’s Zion National Park was recovered from a river several miles downstream following a four-day search effort, officials said Tuesday.
Jetal Agnihotri, 29, of Tucson, was among a large group of hikers making its way through The Narrows, a cluster of picturesque slot canyons in southwestern Utah, when sudden, torrential rain struck Friday afternoon, quickly overtaking the Virgin River that cuts through the area, according to Zion National Park spokesman Jonathan Shafer. Agnihotri and other hikers were swept off their feet by the fast-moving floodwaters.
Jetal Agnihotri, 29, of Tucson, Arizona. (Photo courtesy Pujan Agnihotri via ABC News)
Agnihotri’s friends called for help that evening when she didn’t return and meet up with the others near the visitor center’s parking lot as they had all agreed, Shafer said.
About 170 emergency responders quickly mobilized a search-and-rescue operation that included swift water rescue teams and search dogs, combing areas both inside and outside the park over the next four days, park officials said.
On Monday, Agnihotri’s body was finally located by searchers in the Virgin River near an area called the Court of the Patriarchs, about 6 river miles south of The Narrows, park officials said. Her death was announced on Tuesday after it was confirmed by the medical examiner’s office.
Agnihotri’s brother, Pujan Agnihotri, told local television station KSL-TV that his sister did not know how to swim.
He believes footage captured by someone in the park shows his sister caught in the flooded river while the search team was still looking for her:
Mostafa Javadian, who was with Agnihotri before she disappeared, told KSL-TV that he and another friend had left the area after hearing about the forecast for flash flooding but that Agnihotri wanted to stay and explore The Narrows.
“Now I wish that I did ask her not to go,” Javadian said.
The Washington County Sheriff's Office said investigators are working with Zion Park rangers and the medical examiner to determine the cause of death.
“Our deepest sympathy goes out to the friends and family,” said Jeff Bradybaugh, Zion National Park’s superintendent.
Both the National Weather Service and Washington County, Utah, had issued flood warnings for the park area on Friday.
Shafer said search teams were closely monitoring weather conditions since “several seasonal-monsoon rains increased flow in the Virgin River to a peak of more than 1,100 cubic feet per second.” The river was flowing at about 50 cubic feet per second when the search-and-rescue team ended their search. Hiking through the Narrows can be challenging when the flow of the river is over 70 cubic feet per second, and the area of the park is typically closed when the flow exceeds 150 cubic feet per second.
Zion National Park near Springdale, Utah, is pictured on Sept. 15, 2015. The body of 29-year-old Jetal Agnihotri, of Tuscon, Arizona, was found in the park on Monday, Aug. 22, 2022, ending a four-day search and rescue mission that extended beyond the park's southern border. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)
The heavy rainfall proved dangerous for many other hikers making the trek through The Narrows on Friday.
Park rangers had earlier found an injured hiker who had been swept several hundred yards downstream near the Temple of Sinawava part of the park. A National Park Service ambulance transported the hiker to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Still other hikers were found stranded farther up the hiking path by the high floodwaters, and rangers directed them to stay put until the water receded and then assisted them to safety.
The narrow, flood-prone canyon has claimed many lives before.
In September 2014, a 34-year-old man was found dead in the park after rising floodwaters trapped him in a narrow canyon. And during the same month the following year, seven people drowned in a similar storm in the park, The Associated Press reported.
Park officials warn hikers of the danger, posting on their website that The Narrows are susceptible to flash flooding and that “water levels can rise almost instantly – within second or minutes.”
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