Man on river trip dies after 50-foot fall at Grand Canyon

PHOENIX – Rangers at Grand Canyon National Park said Monday they have recovered the body of a man who fell off a trail while hiking during a river trip stop.

David Colburn, 48, of Tygh Valley, Oregon, fell about 50 feet at Deer Creek Narrows around 4:20 p.m. on Saturday. Other members of the commercial river trip tried to find him but couldn’t.

Multiple National Park Service technical and swiftwater rescue teams were dispatched that evening but darkness and rough terrain interfered with progress.

Park personnel eventually found and recovered Colburn’s body Sunday.

His body was flown by helicopter to the South Rim.

Hikers and river rafters are known to traverse a narrow canyon around Deer Creek Falls. The narrows are 136 miles down river from Lees Ferry, where river rafting trips typically start from.

The park service and the Coconino County Medical Examiner’s Office are investigating Colburn’s death.

No other information was made available.

Colburn’s death was the second reported at the Grand Canyon in less than a week.

Rangers searching for a Hungarian man who had been missing for weeks found his body on the South Rim last Monday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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