A University of Arizona student was found dead on Monday in a Utah national park after she was swept away in a flash flood and reported missing last week.
On Aug. 22, Jetal Agnihotri of Tucson was found in the Virgin River near the Court of Patriarchs in Zion National Park and was pronounced dead by a medical examiner, a news release from Zion National Park said. “Our deepest sympathy goes out to the friends and family of Jetal Agnihotri,” Jeff Bradybaugh, the Zion National Park superintendent said in the news release.
On Aug. 19, Zion National Park rescued multiple hikers that were swept off their feet by a flash flood in the Narrows near the Temple of Sinawava, the news release said. Later in the evening, the National Park Service received a report that Agnihotri was overdue from a trip in the Narrows.
Park rangers continued monitoring the river during the night and mobilized additional searchers early on Aug. 20, the news release said. More than 170 responders contributed over the course of the four-day search-and-rescue operation.
Several seasonal-monsoon rains increased flow in the Virgin River to a peak of more than 1,100 cubic feet per second, the news release said. The river was flowing at about 50 cubic feet per second when the Zion Search and Rescue Team ended its search.
According to the UA Hydrology and Atmospheric Science’s website, Agnihotri was a graduate student.
"She will be greatly missed by students, staff, and faculty at the Department of Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences, a small tight-knit group where everyone knows each other, some of whom were with her in Zion National Park before her disappearance," UA President Robert Robbins said in a statement Tuesday.
"She will be forever remembered by those who knew her at the university as gracious, humble, and dedicated."
