20-year-old woman found dead in Grand Canyon following multiday search: NPS
(ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.) — A 20-year-old woman was found dead following a multiday search in the Grand Canyon, marking the third reported death in the national park within a week, the National Park Service said.
The body of Leticia A. Castillo, 20, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, was located by park personnel below Twin Overlooks on Tuesday, NPS said.
“Park rangers recovered the body which was located approximately 150 ft. below the rim,” the NPS said in a press release Thursday.
Her body was transported to the rim and transferred to the Coconino County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Castillo is believed to have entered the Grand Canyon on or around Aug. 3, according to NPS.
The NPS and the Coconino County medical examiner are investigating the incident.
No additional details have been released.
The incident marked the third recovery for a death in the Grand Canyon since July 31, park officials said.
A 20-year-old man accidentally fell 400 feet to his death from a scenic overlook at the Grand Canyon on July 31, officials said.
A man also died after attempting a BASE jump in the Grand Canyon on Aug. 1, officials said.
BASE is an acronym for building, antenna, span and earth. The recreational sport, which involves jumping from a fixed object and using a parachute to descend to the ground, is prohibited in all areas of Grand Canyon National Park, the NPS said.
“Despite facing inclement weather and hazardous terrain, the team has undertaken significant risks to complete these missions,” NPS said of the three recoveries.
(PALM BEACH, Fla.) — Former President Donald Trump thanked law enforcement for an “incredible” response to what the FBI described as an assassination attempt at Trump’s Palm Beach, Florida, golf course on Sunday.
Multiple law enforcement sources told ABC News that 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh was detained by Florida authorities in relation to the incident. Authorities are now probing for more details on the would-be shooter.
“I would like to thank everyone for your concern and well wishes – It was certainly an interesting day!,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
“Most importantly, I want to thank the U.S. Secret Service, Sheriff Ric Bradshaw and his Office of brave and dedicated Patriots, and, all of Law Enforcement, for the incredible job done today at Trump International in keeping me, as the 45th President of the United States, and the Republican Nominee in the upcoming Presidential Election, SAFE.”
“THE JOB DONE WAS ABSOLUTELY OUTSTANDING. I AM VERY PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!” he wrote.
Secret Service agents accompanying Trump fired at a man armed with an AK-47-style rifle on or near the Trump International golf course on Sunday.
The incident comes around two months after Trump was shot in the ear at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The FBI is investigating Sunday’s incident as an “attempted assassination.” Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said at a news conference Sunday afternoon that the gunman was within 300 to 500 yards of Trump when he was spotted.
Secret Service agents fired four to six rounds at him before he dropped his weapon and fled the scene in a vehicle. Witnesses reported the license plate number to authorities, and the suspect was stopped and detained.
It was not clear if the suspect was aiming his gun at the former president. Agents fired at the suspect after spotting his rifle through the fence line, multiple sources told ABC News.
Sources said three shell casings believed to be associated with the suspect’s AK-47 were found on the scene, though investigators are still evaluating whether the suspect fired his weapon. The rifle and two backpacks containing a GoPro camera and ceramic tiles were recovered from the scene, Bradshaw said.
Sources said Trump was immediately rushed to a safe area on the grounds of the golf course after the shots were fired.
Authorities are now probing Routh’s background. The detainee is believed to have ties to North Carolina and Hawaii, sources said. Sources told ABC News that the FBI is conducting an extensive investigation into Routh’s social media activity, travel and any criminal record. Friends, family and associates are also being sought for interviews.
Sources familiar with the investigation said authorities are looking into whether Routh had grievances related to Trump’s position on Ukraine.
Authorities are expected to file charges relating to the incident in the coming days, sources told ABC News.
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris both condemned the apparent assassination effort.
“As I have said many times, there is no place for political violence or for any violence ever in our country, and I have directed my team to continue to ensure that Secret Service has every resource, capability and protective measure necessary to ensure the former President’s continued safety,” Biden said in a statement.
Harris said she was “thankful” that Trump was safe and “deeply disturbed by the possible assassination attempt.”
“As we gather the facts, I will be clear: I condemn political violence. We all must do our part to ensure that this incident does not lead to more violence,” Harris said.
ABC News’ Lalee Ibassa, Katherine Faulders, Aaron Katersky, Soo Rin Kim, Michelle Stoddart, Pierre Thomas, Rachel Scott, Jack Date, Leah Sarnoff, Kelsey Walsh and Luke Barr contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — A 70-year-old man is in “good spirits” after being found nearly a week after going missing while on an off-road trail in California, authorities said Wednesday.
Warren Elliott got lost after walking away from his group while on the Rubicon Trail in Placer County Friday afternoon, according to the Placer County Sheriff’s Office.
Following a dayslong search in tough terrain, Elliott was found “safe and uninjured” Wednesday morning at Hell Hole Reservoir, the sheriff’s office said. A person texted 911 at approximately 8 a.m. PT that they were with a missing person who was determined to be Elliott, the sheriff’s office said.
Elliott was camping in Rubicon Springs with a group doing trail rehab ahead of an upcoming event dubbed the Jeepers Jamboree when he got lost after going out for a walk, the sheriff’s office said. He was familiar with the area but upon returning from his walk he went in the wrong direction, according to the sheriff’s office.
Elliott managed to drink water from a river and ate a “handful of berries” while lost, the sheriff’s office said.
He was found roughly nine miles from the point where he was last seen though had walked much farther than that over the past five days, the sheriff’s office said.
Elise Soviar, a spokesperson for the Placer County Sheriff’s Office, said Elliott was airlifted out of the area by helicopter. The remote region, located west of Lake Tahoe, is accessible by road, though a helicopter was the quickest way to evacuate him, she said.
A California Highway Patrol helicopter transported him to the command post at Homewood Mountain Resort, where he was “greeted by cheers and clapping” and reunited with his family, the sheriff’s office said.
The sheriff’s office released a video of Elliott’s emotional return, in which he could be seen in the now-tattered shirt he was wearing when he went missing.
“This is a tremendous relief for Mr. Elliott’s family and friends,” the sheriff’s office said in a social media post. “A heartfelt thank you to all the search and rescue teams who tirelessly assisted from across the state.”
The sheriff’s office said they were also “immensely grateful to Jeepers Jamboree,” which provided food, drinks and a place to camp overnight amid the search.
Dozens of searchers from 10 agencies across the state were involved in the search, which also used drones and dog teams, according to the sheriff’s office.
The Rubicon Trail is an approximately 22-mile-long route near Lake Tahoe that features a popular off-highway vehicle trail.
“Tears of joy are flowing this morning,” the Jeepers Jamboree said on social media after Elliott was found. “All of us at Jeepers Jamboree are so incredibly relieved to have Warren found! We can’t express the appreciation we have for everyone who has been a part of finding Warren!”
(NEW YORK) — Marking a new journey in NASA’s exploration of Mars, the Perseverance rover is set to begin a monthslong, steep and challenging ascent up a crater, the space agency announced Wednesday.
The Perseverance rover, nicknamed “Percy,” is the centerpiece of NASA’s Mars 2020 mission, working to collect data in preparation for future human exploration of the Red Planet.
The car-sized spacecraft has spent two and a half years exploring the Mars Jezero Crater floor and river delta and beginning the week of Aug. 19, will start the ascent up the western rim of the crater.
“Perseverance has completed four science campaigns, collected 22 rock cores, and traveled over 18 unpaved miles,” Art Thompson, Perseverance project manager at of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, said in a press release Wednesday.
“As we start the Crater Rim Campaign, our rover is in excellent condition, and the team is raring to see what’s on the roof of this place,” Thompson added.
In what will be the “most challenging” journey for the rover to date, Perseverance will rely on auto-navigation capabilities while encountering slopes of up to 23 degrees on the pre-planned path up the crater.
When Perseverance summits the crater, which scientists have dubbed “Aurora Park,” the rover will have gained approximately 1,000 feet in elevation.
Researchers are looking forward to the new frontier of data that awaits the rover on the crater rim, saying the mission expects “many more discoveries to come.”
Eleni Ravanis, a University of Hawaiì at Mānoa scientist on Perseverance’s Mastcam-Z instrument team and one of the Crater Rim Campaign science leads, said the findings will have “significant implications” in understanding the Red Planet.
“Our samples are already an incredibly scientifically compelling collection, but the crater rim promises to provide even more samples that will have significant implications for our understanding of Martian geologic history,” Ravanis said in the release.