Woman falls to death off cliff in Arizona wilderness area
Mar 29, 2023, 12:00 PM
West Clear Creek Wilderness (U.S. Forest Service Photo)
(U.S. Forest Service Photo)
PHOENIX – A 44-year-old woman fell to her death from a cliff in an Arizona wilderness area this week, authorities said Wednesday.
A friend reported that Jennifer Petri had fallen 20 feet just before 4 p.m. Monday, the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office said in a press release.
The caller said she couldn’t see Petri after she fell. They were in an area known as “The Bluffs,” about 200 feet above West Clear Creek.
The West Clear Creek Wilderness area is in Coconino National Forest, about 100 miles north of downtown Phoenix and 15 miles east of Camp Verde.
The steep and dangerous terrain made it difficult for rescuers to search the area, YCSO said.
Deputies using binoculars spotted the victim just above the water at the base of a cliff.
The Arizona Department of Public Safety reached the spot with a Ranger helicopter and determined that Petri was dead before airlifting her body out of the canyon.
YCSO said it was investigating how Petri fell. No other information was made available.
