Woman falls to death at Grand Canyon

July 3, 2020 Utah Channel 3

GRAND CANYON, AZ. — A woman fell to her death after hiking off-trail at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon on Friday.

The view at Point Imperial includes Mount Hayden, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, July 3, 2017 | Photo by Reuben Wadsworth, St. George News

At approximately 12:35 p.m. Friday, the Grand Canyon Regional Communications Center received a report of a visitor who fell from the rim west of Mather Point. Responding rangers located the body of Maria A. Salgado Lopez, 59, of Scottsdale, Arizona, approximately 100 feet below the rim.

National Park Service officials said Salgado Lopez had been hiking off trail and taking photographs with family when she accidentally stepped off the edge. An investigation into the incident is being conducted by the National Park Service and the Coconino County Medical Examiner’s Office.

National Park staff advise to stay on designated trails and walkways, always keeping a safe distance from the edge of the rim, and staying behind railings and fences at overlooks.