Females in Barracks found alive and well

Press Release:  

Kane County Sheriff’s Office

Sgt. Alan Alldredge

Date: 8/26/13

Time: 4:45 PM

2 missing Females located in Kane County

At approximately 2:40 pm on 8/26/13, the two females missing in the East Fork of The Virgin River were located by the DPS helicopter.  Both individuals were in good health.  They had endured several rain storms and were about out of food.  They were picked up and flown to the Kanab City Airport.

Both females are from Salt Lake City area.  Their names are Christian Delahunty, and Suzy Wheeler-Mang.

2 missing females in East Fork #1

Press Release:  

Kane County Sheriff’s Office

Sgt. Alan Alldredge

Date: 8/26/13

Time: 11:45 AM

2 Females missing in East Fork of Virgin River

On Sunday Evening, 8/25/13, Kane County Dispatch received notification about 2 overdue female hikers.  The two began their hike on Thursday from a point South of Mount Carmel Junction ans west of Highway 89 in the East Fork of the Virgin River.  Their intention was to hike down the East Fork to an area near a popular hiking spot called Fat Mans Misery, and hike out to their vehicle which is parked at Checkerboard Mesa in Zion National Park.  They had planned to be out Sunday morning.  The two individuals are from the Salt Lake City area.  One is 51 years old, and the other is 40.

As of 7:30 am today, Monday, search and rescue efforts have been initiated.  The Utah Department of Public Safety helicopter out of Cedar City flew to Kanab this morning and picked up a Kane County Search and Rescue member and flew the entire route designated on maps that were being used by the females.  This initial search did not result in any visual sighting of the women.  The helicopter is now returning to the area to expand it’s search.  Ground teams are being deployed to the few available access points into the canyon.

Updates will be posted as they become available.

Birch Hollow Fatality 8-19-13

Press Release:  

Kane County Sheriff’s Office

Sgt. Alan Alldredge

Date: 8/19/13

Time: 8:45 pm

Birch Hollow Fatality

At approximately 9:30 A.M. on August 19, 2013, Kane County Dispatch received a call about a 19 year old female that had fallen about 120 feet on a rappel in Birch Hollow.  A Kane County Deputy and a Utah State Park Ranger from the Coral Pink Sand Dunes responded to the area.  After meeting with other members of the rappelling group, the park ranger hiked into where the female had fallen.  When he arrived, he was able to verify that the individual had passed away from her injuries.

The Female, Shelby Collette Christensen of West Jordon Utah, was hiking and rappelling with four other individuals.  Three others in the party had completed the rappel and were waiting at the bottom of the ledge.  It appears that as Shelby began her descent, she got her hand trapped between the rope and rock ledge and let go.  She then fell the 120 feet to the bottom.

Kane County Search and Rescue was dispatched to the scene to aid in the recovery.  The Utah Department of Public Safety Helicopter stationed in Cedar City Utah was also used to lift the body from the canyon.

Birch Hollow is a popular rappelling destination with several rappels and several miles of hiking.  The canyon is located about six mile north of Highway 9 just East of Zion National park and is accessed by the Northfork road.  This is the third rappelling related accident in Birch Hollow this summer.  The first two happened only one day apart at a different rappel in the canyon.  Both resulted in injuries and required assistance of a joint technical rescue team from Kane County Search and Rescue, Zion National Park, and the BLM to raise the individuals to an area where they could be removed from the canyon by a helicopter.

27 year old female dies on hike to The Wave

Kane County Sheriff’s Office

Press Release:

7/22/2013

9:30 pm

27 Year Old Female Dies on Hike to The Wave

At approximately 2:00pm on July 22, 2013, Kane County Dispatch received notification of a 27 year old female suffering from heat related stress about one half of a mile from the Wire pass Trail Head while returning from a hike to The Wave.  The female, Elisabeth Ann Bervel from Mesa Arizona, was hiking with her husband Anthony Bervel.  Today was a special day for the Bervels because it was their fifth wedding anniversary.   They were looking forward to today’s hike using the tickets they had acquired from the online lottery drawing seven months ago.  They had spent the last seven months preparing for the trip by reviewing the information provided by a BLM informational packet about the hike as well as online reviews by other hikers trying to make sure they were prepared for the outing. 

The couple began their hike about 8:00 am Utah time.  They occasionally met with other hikers making the same trip.  After spending some time at the wave, they began their return trip to the trail head.  They lost the trail a couple of times on the way back, which would have been during the hot part of the day by then, and spent a couple of extra hours trying to find the correct path back to their vehicle.  The couple of extra hours in the heat and hiking in the sand took their toll on Elisabeth and her legs finally gave out and she could go no farther.  Anthony hiked for a ways to find a cell phone signal and made a call for help.

Because of the serious condition of Mrs. Bervel, a medical helicopter was dispatched from Page Arizona to fly directly to the scene.  A Kane County Sheriff’ Deputy and an ambulance from Big Water Utah were also dispatched to respond by ground.  When the helicopter arrived, Elisabeth was already in cardiac arrest.  They tried performing CPR, but were unable to revive her.

Elisabeth’s body was transported by the Helicopter to the Kanab Utah Airport where it she was transferred to the care of Mosdell Mortuary under the direction of Sheriff Smith who is the Medical Investigator for Kane County.  The body will be transported to the Utah State Medical Examiner’s Office in Salt Lake City.  The cause of death is still under investigation.

The Bervels have two sons ages 4 and 5 who were with family in Arizona.

This event once again demonstrates the inherent risks associated with hiking in southern Utah’s desert country this time of year.  Even though the Bervels had tried to make sure they were prepared for this hike, the elements proved to be stronger.  This makes 4 hiking related deaths this summer in Kane County.  Three of those deaths have been in close proximity on the trail to the wave, and the fourth occurring at another popular hiking spot off of the Hole in the Rock Road south of Escalante Utah.  The ages of the deceased have ranged from 27 to 70 years of age.

Two dead at The Wave

News Release:

Sgt. Alan Alldredge

Kane County Sheriff’s Office

7/4/13

6:30 pm

Two Found Dead Near The Wave

At about 8:45 am on 7/4/13, Kane County Dispatch received a call from some hikers who were returning from a hike to “The Wave” near the Utah/Arizona border.  They had located the body of an elderly female who was deceased a short distance off the trail.  The Wave is a popular hiking spot that only allows 20 permits each day.  10 of the daily permits are issued on the internet several months ahead of time.  The other 10 are issued by a lottery at the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument visitor’s Center in Kanab Utah.  Some days 70 to 100 people will show up for the lottery for the available 10 tickets for the next day.  Last year over 48,000 individuals applied for the 7300 available tickets.

Sheriff Lamont Smith, who is a medical investigator for the state medical examiner’s office, and Deputy Brent Smith flew from the Wire Pass Trailhead on the House Rock Valley Road in a helicopter from Classic Helicopters in Page Arizona.  After documenting the scene, the body was flown by sling from the site to the trailhead. 

On the return trip to the scene to pick up the sheriff’s Office personnel, the helicopter located what appeared to be another body about 250 yards away from the first.  The second body was also investigated and flown back to the trailhead. 

Ulrich Wahli, age 70, and his wife Patricia Wahli, age 69, had permits to hike to The Wave on Wednesday July 3.  Mr. & Mrs. Wahli are from Campbell California. They would have been hiking in temperatures in excess of 100 degrees.  It is believed that they passed away during the afternoon on Wednesday July 3^rd.  Patricia was lying under a tree as though she was trying to find some relief from the heat, or may have been feeling ill.  Ulrich may have been trying to get to help when he was also overcome by the heat. 

The bodies will be transferred to the Utah State Medical Examiner’s Office where we may be able to learn more about the possible reasons for the deaths.

This is a difficult time of year to be hiking in the Wire Pass area of Kane County.  Add that to the high heat we are experiencing right now, and it makes for a lethal combination.  If you must hike, it is best to do it early in the morning, and make sure you have enough water and supplies.

61 year old male recovered at Lake Powell

Press Release:  

Kane County Sheriff’s Office

Sgt. Alan Alldredge

Date: 6/26/2013

Time: 5:00pm

61 Year Old Drowning Victim Located.

On Monday June 24^th at approximately 1:00 pm, 61 year old Joe Coffield from Snellville, Georgia and his wife were in a rental boat near buoy #12 at the entrance to Warm Creek Bay on Lake Powell.  Mrs. Coffield was in the water with a life jacket on and began to drift away from the boat.  Mr. Coffield went in to try and help his wife when he disappeared and was presumed drowned.  On Wednesday June 26, dive crews working together from the National Park Service, Utah Department of Public Safety, and The Summit County Sheriff’s Office were able to locate and recover Mr. Coffield ‘s body about 11:00 am.  He was transferred to the Kane County Medical Investigator for further investigation.  Search efforts on the lake were supported by personnel from Utah State Parks, and the US Coast Guard Auxiliary.

Mr. Coffield was the 4^th boating related death in a 5 day period in Kane County’s portion of Lake Powell.  The Kane County Sheriff’s Office would again remind everyone to wear life jackets and be aware of your surroundings while boating on Lake Powell.

Jessica Jackman located 6/25/13

News Release #6:

Sgt. Alan Alldredge

Kane County Sheriff’s Office

6/25/2013

2:15 pm

Lake Powell Boating Accident

At approximately 11:40 am Tuesday, the body of Jessica Jackman was located and retrieved.  She was found in about 350 feet of water in the same general area as the debris from the boat and about 23 feet from where Valerie Bradshaw was located.  Yesterday, help was requested from Summit County Sheriff’s Office’s dive team.  They have a robotic unit similar to Lake Powell dive team’s robot that is waiting on repairs.  They arrived early this morning and after a 7 am briefing, they were enroute to the accident site.  In a joint effort between the UHP dive team, Summit County Search and Rescue, and the Lake Powell dive team, Jessica was located fairly quickly today.  She will be transferred to the Kane County Medical Examiner who will continue the investigation.

For those who may not have heard, there was another drowning incident at Lake Powell yesterday about 1:00 pm near the entrance to Warm Creek Bay at buoy #12.  The 61 year old male is still missing.  Crews will now be able to concentrate their efforts on that search.