Grand Canyon camper plunges 20 feet to her death while on river trip, rangers say

A camper fell 20 feet to her death while on a river trip through the Grand Canyon, park rangers said.

Margaret Osswald, a 34-year-old from Salt Lake City, Utah, was near Ledges Camp on Monday, April 4, when she fell to her death, the National Park Service said. She was found unresponsive.

“Due to darkness, Grand Canyon National Park requested Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS) emergency helicopter response,” park rangers said in an April 5 news release. “DPS arrived on scene at Ledges Camp at approximately 8:30 p.m. and pronounced the individual deceased.”

Osswald had hiked into the canyon to meet the other members of the river trip, which was in its sixth day.

The death is under investigation.

Last month, Mary Kelley, a 68-year-old from Steamboat Springs, Colorado, was found unresponsive after entering the Colorado River, the National Park Service said.

Members of her boating group pulled her from the water and began CPR, park rangers said.

“Park rangers were flown into the location with the park helicopter and all resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful,” officials said in a Friday, March 25, news release. “Kelley was on day nine of a multi-day private boating trip.”

Park officials did not say what led to Kelley becoming unresponsive in the water. The woman entered the water near Hance Rapid, which park officials called a “highly technical and powerful whitewater rapid.”

Many tourists take commercial river trips on the Colorado River, according to the National Park Service. Some take single-day or half-day trips, while other trips can be up to 18 days.

Multiple people died on the Colorado River in 2021. A 63-year-old died in June on the sixth day of a private boating trip, according to McClatchy News.

In April 2021, a 60-year-old woman died in a boating accident when a commercial river trip motorboat overturned, officials said. The accident also injured two others.

This story was originally published April 5, 2022 at 3:58 PM with the headline "Grand Canyon camper plunges 20 feet to her death while on river trip, rangers say."