A 68-year-old woman died after she was pulled from the Colorado River during a boating trip in the Grand Canyon on Thursday, according to National Park Service officials.
Grand Canyon National Park officials were alerted by a personal locator beacon of an emergency situation shortly after 11 a.m. Thursday near Hance Rapid in the eastern part of the Grand Canyon National Park, according to a National Park Service news release.
Mary Kelley, of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, was on a multi-day private boating trip when she “entered the river at the top of Hance Rapid.” Members of her group pulled her from the water and found her unresponsive, according to the park service.
Group members began CPR on Kelley until park rangers arrived with a helicopter and other emergency equipment. The rangers were unable to resuscitate Kelley.
Hance Rapid is considered to be highly technical and is made up of powerful whitewater rapids, according to the park service. It is considered “one of the hardest and longest rapids in the Grand Canyon,” according to Go Rafting.
An investigation into the death is being conducted by the park service and Coconino County Medical Examiner.
