Zion National Park: Body of missing traveler recovered after flash floods

Zion National Park Superintendent Jeff Bradybag said: “Our deepest sympathies go out to the friends and family of Jetal Agnihotri.”

Agnihotri was reported missing on Friday evening after not returning from the Yatra in Nairo. That day, torrential rains suddenly flooded the narrow area, where water was reported from the feet of several pedestrians near the Sinawawa Temple, according to the Park Service.

After several were rescued, park officials said they believed all the missing pedestrians had been found by Friday afternoon—including a man who had been swept several hundred yards away. . Later that evening, Agnihotri was reported missing.

According to park officials, she was found a few days later about 6 river miles south of the Narrows. The Washington County Sheriff’s Office said investigators are working with Zion Park rangers and a medical examiner to determine the cause of death.

The four-day search and rescue operation for Agnihotri saw more than 170 respondents from multiple agencies working in and out of the park along with fast water trained rescue teams and sniffer dogs working along the banks of the Virgin River.

During the discovery, “multiple seasonal-monsoon rains increased the flow in the Virgin River to a peak of more than 1100 cubic feet per second,” the Park Service said. “The river was flowing at about 50 cubic feet per second when the Zion Search and Rescue team ended its search.”