The National Park Service recently ended a search and rescue operation for an Arizona woman.
Jetal Agnihotri, 29, of Tucson, was found Aug. 22 in the Virgin River near the Court of the Patriarchs at the park and was pronounced deceased by a medical examiner, an Aug. 23 National Park Service news release said.
“Our deepest sympathy goes out to the friends and family of Jetal Agnihotri,” Jeff Bradybaugh, Zion National Park superintendent, said in the release.
Jetal Agnihotri, 29, of Tucson, Ariz., was found dead Aug. 22 at Zion National Park after she got swept away by flash floods Aug. 19.
| has.arizona.edu/people/jetal-sutariya-agnihotri
Agnihotri was reported overdue from a trip in the Narrows the evening of Aug. 19, an Aug. 20 National Park Service news release said. Earlier that day at approximately 2:15 p.m., Zion National Park received a report of several “hikers being swept off their feet by a flash flood in the Narrows near the Temple of Sinawava,” which is a tall sandstone amphitheater and trailhead for the Riverside Walk and Narrows hiking trails.
Several hikers were isolated near Riverside Walk because of high flood waters and another hiker was sent to the hospital during the search that ensured, according to an ABC News report.
The four-day search and rescue operation for Agnihotri involved more than 170 responders, the Aug. 23 news release said. The partners, who worked inside and outside the park, were Bureau of Land Management, Color Country Interagency Fire Center, Kane County Search and Rescue, Hurricane Valley Fire District, National Park Service staff from Grand Canyon National Park and Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Springdale Police Department, Utah Search Dogs, U.S. Forest Service, Washington County Search and Rescue and the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.
“The response involved work by swift water-trained rescuers, search dogs and a total of more than 1500 person-hours searching in and near the Virgin River,” the Aug. 23 release said.
