2 Boaters Found Dead Days Apart, Becoming 7th and 8th Deaths at Grand Canyon National Park Since July

Mar. 15, 2025

Grand Canyon, Near River Mile 137 on the Colorado River, where one person was found dead in early September 2024.Photo:NPS Photo/E. Whittaker

NPS Photo/E. Whittaker

Two boaters died within days of each other in separate incidents at the Grand Canyon, becoming the seventh and eighth people to die at the national park since the end of July.

Patrick Horton, 59, was found dead on Saturday, Sept. 7, on “the 10th day of a non-commercial river trip along the Colorado River,” according to a news release from theNational Park Service.

Two days later, theNPSsaid, a 71-year-old boater disappeared in the area of Lower Nankoweap Camp along the Colorado River. A body matching his description was found the next day near river mile 63.5.

Both deaths are under investigation, according to the NPS.

Six other people have died at Grand Canyon National Park since July. On July 31, 20-year-old college studentAbel Joseph Mejiadied after falling about 400 feet from the rim near the Pipe Creek Overlook, according to park officials.

Turning Point Pentecostal Churchshared on social media that Mejia was on a “missions trip” when the “accident” occurred.

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The next day, on Aug. 1, a man died afterattempting an illegal BASE jumpfrom the Yavapai Point, located on the canyon’s South Rim in Arizona, according to the NPS.

Ancestral Puebloean Granaries near mile 52 on the Colorado River, about 10 miles from where a boater was found dead in September 2024.Getty

Getty

About two weeks later, on Aug. 22, authorities said 33-year-oldChenoa Nickersondisappeared after she was “swept into” Havasu Creek without a life jacket during a flash flood.

A commercial river trip found the Arizona hiker’s bodythree days laternear river mile 176 in the Colorado River. That same day, an80-year-old mandied “after his boat flipped at Fossil Rapid.”

Three days later, on Aug. 28, the NPS said a60-year-old hikerfrom North Carolina was found dead along a route bridging Lower Tapeats Camp and Deer Creek Camp. He was reported missing the day prior after failing to return from his attempt to hike the Thunder River Trail-Deer Creek loop.

In total, 16 people are believed to have died at Grand Canyon National Park this year,CBS Newsreported.

More people have died at the Grand Canyon in 2024 than in 2023 and 2022, which saw 10 and 11 deaths, respectively, perThe Arizona Republic.

Typically, the park averages between 10 and 15 deaths per year, said park spokeswoman Joelle Baird, according to CBS News.

source: people.com