A Colorado man was found dead in Grand Canyon National Park on Saturday, according to the National Park Service. This is the seventh death there in less than two months.
The man, Patrick Horton, 59, of Salida, Colo., was on a self-guided river trip with a group along the Colorado River when he was found dead by others in the group. The Park Service said in a statement.
The Grand Canyon Regional Communications Center, which dispatched emergency operations to the area, received a report of the death at 5:30 a.m. Saturday in an area known as Poncho Kitchen near river mile 137 along the Colorado River, the Park Service said. . Park rangers arrived to find Mr. Horton dead at the scene, the agency said.
Mr. Horton died on the 10th day of a private, self-guided river trip that requires a river permit won through a lottery system, the Park Service said.
The cause of death has not been revealed. The Park Service said it is investigating the death in coordination with the Coconino County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Representatives for the Park Service and the medical examiner’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment Monday evening.
Grand Canyon National Park, in northern Arizona, attracts millions of visitors each year, many of them hikers who descend thousands of feet from the canyon rim to the Colorado River below. According to the Arizona Office of Tourism, about 5,000 of the 27,000 people who travel along the river through the Grand Canyon each year do so on private tours with the appropriate park permit.
death is The incident is the seventh reported in the Grand Canyon since July 31, according to previous news from the Park Service. Others include a 60-year-old hiker from North Carolina who were on a multi-day backpacking trip when he was reported missing by a relative; An unidentified 80-year-old man who died His boat capsized in the river; Chenoa Rickersona 33-year-old woman whose body was found after a flash flood; And Leticia A. Castillo20, whose body was found 150 feet below.
There have been at least 15 deaths in the Grand Canyon so far this year, including Six fatalities have been reported over a two-week period This summer, The New York Times reported.
This Park Avg According to data from the last decade, about 17 deaths per year, with the most common cause being cardiac arrest.
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