Debris from the Bright Angel Creek flash floods at the end of August. Photograph: Katherine Hensel/National Park Service/APView image in fullscreenDebris from the Bright Angel Creek flash floods at the end of August. Photograph: Katherine Hensel/National Park Service/APHuman remains found in Arizona after deadly Grand Canyon flash floodsHiker Timothy Smith, 53, missing after late-August floods but officials decline to identify remains
Human remains have been discovered near Arizona’s Crystal Rapids, over two weeks after a flash flood tore through the Grand Canyon, leaving two people dead and one person missing.
National Park Service personnel recovered the remains, before transferring them to the Coconino county medical examiner’s office, the agency confirmed over email.
In late August, heavy rains brought a deluge of flood water barreling through the Grand Canyon national park. The bodies of a Texas chiropractor and a martial artist were recovered, according to the Associated Press. One hiker, Timothy Smith, a 53-year-old pilot from Wyoming, is unaccounted for.
The National Park Service did not identify who the remains belonged to, adding that no further information would be available at this time.
A Facebook account appearing to belong to the wife of the missing pilot, Carrie Smith, acknowledged the discovery of human remains.
“We ask that you continue to pray alongside us! Please be considerate of those handling the situation and those going through this difficult time,” Smith wrote in a Tuesday post.
In earlier Facebook posts, Smith described her husband as an outdoors aficionado.
“Tim loves to show us somewhere new and take us back to the places we love,” she wrote. “We know the search teams are working hard to bring Tim home to us.”
