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N.J. girl, 13, falls<br>off trail on hike with family

GC VILLAGE — Earlier this summer, a 13-year-old Texas boy died after falling on a hike through North Canyon.

Last week, another fatality involving a young hiker occurred on the South Kaibab Trail when a 13-year-old New Jersey girl fell to her death.

Hannah Stehlin, 13, of Flemington, N.J., was hiking with members of her family about a mile down the South Kaibab Trail when the accident occurred at 8:10 a.m. Wednesday. Her body was located approximately 150 feet below the edge.

Paramedics pronounced the girl dead at the scene.

Rangers then began to document "a complex crime scene" and followed with removal of the girl’s body.

While determining the fall line of about 150 feet from the trail, rangers documented multiple impact points.

The girl’s body was transported to the Coconino County Medical Examiner’s Office. The National Park Service and the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office are conducting an investigation.

In all, it was the fifth fatality from a fall at Grand Canyon this year. It’s the fourth fatal fall from the South Rim area alone in 2001.

The South Kaibab Trail is the second most-hiked route down into the Canyon. The location of the mishap can be seen from the rim and was about two miles before Cedar Ridge near Windy Point.

The first fatality involving a teen-ager occurred in June when 13-year-old Andy Drugg of Canyon Lake, Texas, fell while on an Inner Canyon hike up from the river.

The other three fatalities occurred from the South Rim.

Stehlin was a home-schooled student who had been a sharpshooter in her hometown 4-H Club.


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