Teen Dies after 400 Foot Plummet During Her First Day Working at Yellowstone National Park
OutdoorHub Reporters 06.10.12
Because her family may not have been informed of her death yet (some reports are suggesting she may have been from Russia), the identity of the 18-year-old female, who was working as a Yellowstone concession employee, is being withheld.
The incident occurred on June 7.
According to Yellowstone officials, the woman and three friends went hiking early in the evening along the edge of the “Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone” which is over 1,500 feet deep.
The group started out from Inspiration point and at around 6 p.m. local time one of the members of the hiking group called 911 to report the fall.
A rescue team was dispatched and located the woman 400 feet below the rim of the canyon, dead from her injuries.
Dan Hottle, a spokesperson for Yellowstone, had this to say on msnbc.com, “The 18-year-old was sitting on a ledge when the rock fell away. Someone was standing right behind her and, miraculously, didn’t fall.”
In the past 30 years there have been fewer than a dozen fatal falls at Yellowstone. There were over 3 million visitors in 2011 alone.
