Missing hiker found dead near Horsetail Falls

In another incident, a 10-year-old boy was in critical condition after falling into the Provo River near Bridal Veil Falls.

Alpine, Utah • The missing hiker whose cellphone was found on the Horsetail Falls Trail has been found dead, the Utah County Sheriff's Office confirmed Saturday morning.

After receiving a phone call from hikers who found a phone Friday afternoon at Horsetail Falls containing images of her in the river, search and rescue teams and a helicopter were deployed to search for the missing woman.

They located his body late Friday evening, but the team waited until morning because of the danger the mission presented with the high, fast-moving waters. According to Sgt. Utah County Sherriff's Garrett Dutson and search and rescue teams recovered the body of a 19-year-old hiker just after 11 a.m.

Authorities believe it was a tragic accident and do not suspect foul play.

Dutson warned of the dangers of going in the water this time of year, especially with the snow melting. “It seems like this time of year we get calls from someone who has fallen into the water because I think they're too close or they're trying to cross a stream. 'water. Again, they just don't realize how fast the water is moving. And the temperatures too. The waters here are between 30 and 40 degrees,” Dutson said.

The 19-year-old's family has been notified and Dutson sent his thoughts and prayers to them.

A similar incident occurred Saturday afternoon when a 10-year-old boy fell into the waters of the Provo River near Bridal Veil Falls. After receiving the emergency call around 1:45 p.m., authorities stood guard at several places on the river to try to rescue him.

An Orem firefighter who saw the boy about a block south of 800 North in Orem jumped into the river and grabbed him. A member of the rescue team threw a rope to pull them both out of the water, but in doing so suffered severe burns to his hands. The team had to use a tree as leverage to finally save the boy from the water.

The boy is now being treated at Utah Valley Hospital, but Sgt. Spencer Cannon said he was in critical condition after being in the water for at least 45 minutes.

The Bureau of Reclamation issued a warning Friday evening regarding high water flows coming out of Deer Creek Dam. The change had increased the flow of the Provo River by up to 2,000 cubic feet per second, creating dangerous conditions.

“These kinds of conditions are not going to go away here for at least the next few days or weeks. So people should use extreme caution when in the area, when breeding near bodies of water, because a small stream can turn into a raging torrent,” Cannon said.

Cannon warned to always stay on level ground and away from banks, or anything that slopes down to the river.

Read the full story at fox13now.com.

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