Hiker missing after flash floods hit Zion National Park. ‘She’s a good fighter’

UPDATE: Searchers found the body of 29-year-old Jetal Agnihotri on Monday, Aug. 22, in the Virgin River near the Court of the Patriarchs at Zion National Park, park officials said. Her body was found three days after she was swept away by flash floods.

The original story is below:

A search continues for a 29-year-old woman believed to have been swept away by flash floods at Zion National Park that also left other hikers requiring rescue, rangers reported.

Fellow hikers reported Jetal Agnihotri of Tucson, Arizona, missing when she did not rejoin them after a flash flood Friday, Aug. 19, Zion National Park officials said in a news release.

On Monday, Aug. 22, rangers said in an update that they were continuing to search the Virgin River area for Agnihotri using dog handlers. They were assisting Washington County sheriff’s search teams.

On Sunday, Aug. 21, the sheriff’s swift-water team investigated “fast-flowing and deep areas” of the river, while dog handlers searched vegetation and log-jams on the river, the latest release said.

Other hikers had to be rescued following the 2:15 p.m. flood in the Narrows area of the park on Firday, rangers said.

One hiker who was injured after being swept several hundred yards downstream was taken to a hospital, the release said.

Rescuers found other hikers stranded by high water and advised them to remain in place until the water receded, then assisted them across, rangers said.

Agnihotri had gone to hike the Narrows with friends on a visit to Utah, KSTU reported. The group split up after hearing about the floods, with some returning to the trailhead while she decided to continue, friend Mostafa Javadian told the station.

“She’s a good fighter,” Javadian told KSTU. “This is something that I think that she can make it because she doesn’t give up.”

But her brother, Pujan Agnihotri, told KUTV that he believes a video captured by a hiker shows his sister being swept away by raging floodwaters.

Several areas of the park remain closed as of Monday, Aug. 22, while the search continues, rangers said.

This story was originally published August 21, 2022 at 9:58 AM with the headline "Hiker missing after flash floods hit Zion National Park. ‘She’s a good fighter’."