This Sunday, two men rafting the Virgin River in Zion National Park were reported missing after failing to check in with family at the expected time. As a result, throughout Sunday and beginning again Monday morning, search and rescue teams combed the area for the two men. Around 9 a.m., Monday, a man’s body turned up at the North Fork of the river, which stirred up concern that he may have been one of the missing rafters.
According to reports, a second body was found a few hours later about two miles away from the North Fork. The two bodies did, in fact, turn out to be those of the missing rafters, Jesse Scaffidi, 23, and Daniel Chidester, 23, who were trying to navigate the river on a “makeshift raft,” according to the Salt Lake Tribune. Also according to the paper, neither wore a flotation device. A spokesman for the park, Ron Terry, adds that the pair hadn’t requested a permit from rangers prior to their trip.
Park rangers state that, “On average, Zion National Park records two to three fatalities each year — most from falls from sandstone cliffs.” But today marks the park’s third fatality this week. Aside from the two rafters, a woman hiking the Angels Landing trail solo on Tuesday fell from the Scout Lookout. Her body was recovered this morning from a ledge 1,000 feet below.
Unfortunately, there’s not much to be said about the fatalities this week. “We always have safety messages out in our publications, on signs in the park — that’s just a normal way of operating for us,” Terry says. “There’s no way that we can predict these sorts of things.”
[Via: The Salt Lake Tribune]
