Agencies work together to recover body of fallen climber in remote area of Kane County

Department of Public Safety helicopter. File photo: Gephardt Daily

KANE COUNTY, Utah, April 26, 2021 (Gephardt Daily) — Crews from multiple agencies worked together on Monday to retrieve the body of a Cedar City man who was climbing Sunday when he fell and hit his head, and died at the scene.

The victim was Jeffrey Bowden, 55, a statement from the Kane County Sheriff’s Office says.

“During the early morning hours of April 26th, 2021, Kane County Sheriff’s Office Dispatch received a call that Jeffrey Bowden, age 55, of Cedar City, Utah, had fallen about 20 feet, hit is head, and was presumed dead at the scene. The fall happened during the afternoon hours of April 25th,” the statement says.

“A friend who had been hiking with Bowden witnessed the fall, attempted to soften the landing and sustained minor injuries in the process. Once the friend had attended to Mr. Bowden, she began the long process of hiking out to contact help.

“The fall happened at one of several rappel sites in the popular remote area of Kane County known as Fat Man’s Misery, which is located just east of Zion National Park.

“Sheriff’s deputies responded, met with the friend and called for the Kane County Sheriff’s Technical Rescue Team. Once on scene, crews located the deceased body of Jeffrey Bowden and were eventually able to safely complete the recovery with the assistance of the DPS Aero Bureau. Once they reached the scene of the fall, crews had to lower Mr. Bowden down one level in order to safely reach him with the helicopter hoist equipment.

“The Kane County Sheriff would like to thank all of the technical experts that were involved with the recovery. A special thanks to the DPS Aero Bureau for making our job much safer. The Kane County Sheriff’s Office would like to also send our condolences to the family and friends of Mr. Jeffrey Bowden.”

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here