Park Area Closed to Recover Body of Teen Who Fell Over 50-Foot Waterfall
The 18-year-old slipped on wet rocks at the top of Sol Duc Falls on Sunday afternoon, and plummeted to the bottom of the falls, witnesses told park officials.
The man, whose name the authorities did not release, briefly resurfaced before disappearing beneath the water, park officials said.
The park's swift water and rope rescue teams began their search immediately after the man disappeared, officials said, while another crew searched the riverbanks upstream from the trailhead.
Thermal imaging was used to search the water, while drone teams from local police departments looked from above.
Late on Monday, a park ranger found a submerged body pinned between the first and second falls, officials said, adding that it was 'likely that this is the visitor who fell over the falls the day before.'
The park announced on Tuesday that it was closing the area around the falls as the teams prepared to recover the body.
The point where the body was seen is in a slender canyon beneath the main falls, where the water gains speed.
The force of the water was further strengthened, officials said, by higher temperatures, which cause rapid snowmelt and significantly high river flows.
Park officials said Tuesday that they would 'begin the operation as soon as the river conditions allow for a safe and successful recovery.'
They said that they were thwarted by the 50-foot cliffs, covered in algae and moss, on both sides of the area. Farther downstream, they said, there is a second waterfall, a whirlpool, and other hazards.
Park officials did not offer any public updates after Tuesday, and did not respond to emails and phone messages on Friday.
Olympic National Park, which preserves more than 920,000 acres on a thumb of land known as the Olympic Peninsula, is one of the largest, most remote, and least-developed protected areas in the United States.
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