Body of 7th Hiker Recovered in Zion National Park Flash Flooding

Search and rescue team members carry a body after it was found along Pine Creek, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2015, in Zion National Park, near Springdale, Utah.

SOUTHERN UTAH – Recent storms in Sothern Utah have culminated in flash flooding that has killed 18 and left two missing, including a 6-year-old boy, in Hildale and Zion National Park.

On the other side of the mountain, seven hikers died in Zion National Park after a flash flood ripped through Keyhole Canyon Monday evening.

Three children survived, including a boy who told Utah Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox that he escaped by cutting through an air bag, climbing out a window and jumping off the roof of the vehicle.

“The flood struck Monday afternoon while a group of seven people was in Keyhole Canyon, a narrow canyon formed by water wearing through rock over the centuries, the park service said”.

Zion National Park officials officials held a press conference Wednesday at 10 a.m. regarding the Keyhole Canyon fatality incident.

Six people have been found dead downstream after Monday’s flash flooding, but the danger of more rising water kept rescuers out of the canyon itself until Thursday. Steve Arthur, 58, who works for the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department in Southern California, said John Reilly, a captain with the department. They were all in their 40s and 50s.

Curt Walker, a professor of biology at Dixie State University who has been canyoneering through Keyhole more than a dozen times, said it requires at least some skill and typically equipment like ropes and wetsuits, but ordinarily is a short, simple canyon.

Arthur’s family told the department that Arthur had been confirmed dead, and his wife, Linda Arthur, was on the trip and remained missing, Reilly said.

Picard said: “Do you understand what the flash flooding potential is?”

The couple were in a group that, like thousands before them, were attracted to the majestic slot canyons of the desert Southwest by unique geological quirks, which also make them deadly.

Their vehicle was found unoccupied, and a search effort began Tuesday morning, although continued rain made it hard for crews to reach the higher technical parts of the canyon, Baltrus said.

He said some members of the group from California and Nevada were new to canyoneering, which involves rappelling into pools of water, when they started the excursion into the canyon.

During the Search and Rescue Operations, over 60 searchers from multiple agencies have contributed over 760 hours in their efforts to find the missing canyoneers, according to a park press release.

The canyon walls go as far as the eye can see, and it’s deep enough to stay cool even in July, Picard said.

This is the 19th death related to flash flooding in Washington County.