Woman dies after falling in a canyon at Zion National Park
CBSN
A 26-year-old woman has died after falling in a canyon at a U.S. national park in Utah, officials said. The woman's body was recovered Sunday evening from Mystery Canyon at Zion National Park, the National Park Service said in a news release.
According to visitors, the woman was canyoneering alone and fell 50 to 80 feet Saturday afternoon. Crews launched a search and rescue effort that closed various areas of the park. A helicopter was sent to rescue the woman but was unable to pull her out "due to the steep, narrow canyon walls," the park service said in the release. Medics later reached the woman before she died a short time later.Ashley White received her earliest combat action badge from the United States Army soon after the first lieutenant arrived in Afghanistan. The silver military award, recognizing soldiers who've been personally engaged by an attacker during conflict, was considered an achievement in and of itself as well as an affirming rite of passage for the newly deployed. White had earned it for using her own body to shield a group of civilian women and children from gunfire that broke out in the midst of her third mission in Kandahar province. All of them survived. She never mentioned the badge to anyone in her battalion.