Authorities searched Grand Canyon National Park on Monday for a teenager and his stepgrandmother, the wife of one of the founders of a hiking boot company, who were swept away as they tried to cross a creek during a family trip in a remote part of the northern Arizona park.
Two fellow hikers in their group alerted officials over the weekend by setting off an emergency GPS locator beacon in the backcountry below the canyon’s North Rim, said Chief Ranger Matt Vandzura of the National Park Service.
He said the 14-year-old boy and 62-year-old woman lost their footing and were swept away Saturday in Tapeats Creek, a tributary of the Colorado River that runs through the Arizona landmark.
The McCallie School, an all-boys school in Chattanooga, Tennessee, said one of its students, eighth-grader Jackson Standefer, and his stepgrandmother were swept downstream.
“The entire McCallie community sends its prayers to the Standefer family and all those close to Jackson as we all hope for a positive ending to this situation,” the school said in a statement.
Mark McOmie, the uncle of the missing boy, told The Associated Press that the teen, his mother and the stepgrandparents were crossing a water trail Saturday evening when the boy and his stepgrandmother fell in and were swept away by the water.
McOmie identified the stepgrandparents as Randy Merrill, who in 1981 help found the Merrell Boot Co., and his wife Lou-Ann. He said both are avid hikers and knew the area well.
A call to the boot company’s Indiana headquarters wasn’t immediately returned Monday.
Lou-Ann Merrell is “a very experienced backpacker,” McOmie said. “If they can get to a spot where they cannot be in the water and stay warm, she’s got the skills needed to get them through it. The odds aren’t great. But given their skills and knowledge of the area, that will probably lead to the best possible outcome.”
McOmie said search and rescue teams have found both their backpacks and belongings inside it, but the family has interpreted that with mixed feelings.
On the one hand, he said, it looks as if they were able to get their backpacks off. “The bad part is that they don’t have their gear,” McOmie said.
Vandzura said it’s too early in the investigation to determine what went wrong.
No rain or flash flooding was reported in the area, but it was not known whether the water level of the creek was higher than usual.
Creeks in the canyon often see higher water levels in the spring as snow melts, Vandzura said.
The Park Service describes conditions in the area on its website, warning that melting snow or heavy rain may make crossing the creek impossible.
It also said hikers can use a “sketchy, seldom-used trail” that lets them walk around the creek when the water is high, but that the path should be used only as a last resort.
The four hikers in the group were on a different path known as Tapeats Trail, authorities said.
An Arizona Department of Public Safety helicopter searched for the missing pair Saturday night, and the Park Service sent a helicopter and several ground crews to comb the area Sunday.
The Park Service resumed the search Monday with ground crews, a helicopter and a drone.
___
Billeaud reported from Phoenix, Arizona, and Burke from Nashville, Tennessee.
