Colorado man found dead at Grand Canyon is 15th fatality there this year, NPS says

A Colorado man was found dead in the Grand Canyon over the weekend, the 15th fatality there so far this year, the National Park Service said Monday.

The NPS said their regional communications center received a call Sept. 7 at approximately 5:30 a.m. reporting a fatality at Poncho's Kitchen, near river mile 137 along the Colorado River.

Park rangers responded to the scene and found the victim, identified as Patrick Horton, 59, of Salida, Colorado. Horton was on the 10th day of a non-commercial river trip along the river and was discovered dead by members of his party, the NPS said in a news release.

The park service said it would continue to investigate the death while the Coconino County Medical Examiner's Office determines the cause.

Other recent fatalities at Grand Canyon National Park

The death Saturday is the latest in several fatalities at the park this summer, including:

• August 27: The regional communications center received a report of a solo backpacker who had failed to check in with a family member while attempting the Thunder River Trail-Deer Creek loop, the NPS said in a news release. The next morning, NPS search and rescue personnel, responding via helicopter, found a deceased individual along a route connecting Lower Tapeats Camp and Deer Creek Camp. The backpacker was a 60-year-old male from North Carolina and was on a solo multi-day backpacking trip from Thunder River to Deer Creek, according to the NPS.
• August 25: A few days before that, the park was alerted to an emergency via a satellite phone call from a commercial river trip near Fossil Rapid on the Colorado River around 3:40 p.m. The communications center received a report that "CPR was in progress" on an 80-year-old male who had entered the river after his boat flipped at Fossil Rapid. Despite the efforts of the group and park rangers flown in by helicopter, resuscitation attempts were unsuccessful, the NPS said.

• August 25: Earlier that same day, around 11:30 a.m., a dead body was discovered by a commercial river trip near mile 176 in the Colorado River. The victim, identified as Chenoa Nickerson, 33, from Gilbert, Arizona, was reported missing following a flash flood that struck Havasu Canyon on August 22, the NPS said. She was last seen approximately 100 yards above the confluence of Havasu Creek and the Colorado River. The NPS said it conducted a "multi-day search and rescue operation" that was ultimately unsuccessful. Park rangers recovered Nickerson's body, which was transported to the rim by helicopter and transferred to the Coconino County Medical Examiner.

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Gabe Hauari is a national trending news reporter at USA TODAY. You can follow him on X @GabeHauari or email him at [email protected].