Two people are dead and one hiker remains missing following severe flash flooding in Grand Canyon National Park over the weekend.
During a press conference Monday evening, authorities said they’ve reviewed hundreds of tips about people who may have been near Phantom Ranch when floodwaters ripped through Saturday.
They say everyone else has been located, with just that one person still missing.
Incident commander Dave Black says as many as 30 people were initially unaccounted for.
Black says park personnel and Coconino County Sheriff’s deputies have tracked down dozens of hikers who made it out of the canyon one way or another.
“We had people take Ubers back to their cars that had hiked out, all kinds of different things," Black says. "So as of right now, they have no reason to believe from the tips we've been through so far that there's anybody besides the one that we're looking for.”
Crews recovered the body of a 46-year-old man near Crystal Rapids Sunday and the second Monday.
According to the Associated Press, family members have identified the men as Texas chiropractor John Giusti and martial arts studio owner Brent Rosenkran.
All three men had ties to Granbury, Texas, and planned “several days of hiking, camping, fishing and exploring together.”
A liaison for the families told the outlet the third person in their group — 53-year-old Wyoming pilot Timothy Smith — was still missing.
A technical search team from the
Border Patrol will continue searching for the hiker in a hazardous section of the North Kaibab Trail that passes through a slot canyon known as "the box" Tuesday.
They also plan to use dogs trained to detect human remains, drones and other technology.
Continued rain has hampered the search, forcing crews to rely on helicopters rather than sending teams into flood-prone areas.
"[Weather] has delayed recovery efforts for the ones we know about and has delayed search to put boots on the ground inside the inner canyon as it's not safe," Black says.
Thunderstorms dropped nearly an inch of rain in just 30 minutes over portions of the park Saturday. Dozens of visitors were evacuated due to flooding along the popular North Kaibab Trail and areas around Phantom Ranch.
The flooding also damaged a significant portion of the Transcanyon Waterline, which supplies water to the South Rim. Stage 4 water restrictions remain in effect, with all overnight lodging on the South Rim closed to guests as a result.
Bright Angel Campground remains closed Tuesday, along with Phantom Ranch, the canteen and the cabins. The entire North Kaibab Trail is also closed.
