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Murder not ruled out<br>in woman’s fall off rim<br>

GC VILLAGE — The National Park Service has not yet ruled out a possible murder in the case of an 18-year-old woman who fell to her death at Grandeur Point on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.

Sandra Marie Elizondo, 18, Ontario, Calif., fell 360 feet below the rim in a spot just off the Rim Trail between Yavapai Point and National Park Service headquarters at around sunset on Feb. 20.

Maureen Oltrogge, GCNP public affairs officer, said "they always look at a fatality as a possible homicide until it can be ruled out," which is routine procedure.

Elizondo’s identity was confirmed through dental records early last week, Oltrogge said.

The murder theory surfaced in an Arizona Daily Sun story last week apparently based on an autopsy performed by the county medical examiner’s office.

However, Oltrogge said the medical examiner’s report has not been finalized and when it is, the NPS will not comment on it because the report becomes part of the investigation.

The Sun reported that the medical examiner’s staff found Elizondo to be holding clumps of someone else’s hair. Personal items belonging to Elizondo were found in a spot where two couples walking along the Rim Trail had remembered seeing a woman looking out over the Canyon about 15 minutes earlier.

Alarmed about a possible fall into the Canyon, the party told of the incident and rangers were contacted at 6:45 p.m. A hasty search commenced and continued until midnight.

The following morning, the impact site was found and Grand Canyon National Park’s Search and Rescue team airlifted the woman’s body out of the Canyon.

The National Park Service is continuing the investigation. A Coconino County Sheriff’s Department spokesperson said they have no involvement in the case.

Elizondo was attending ticket agent training school in Phoenix.

After completing a three-week course at America West Airlines, Elizondo was scheduled to start a job at Ontario International Airport in California.

Amado Elizondo, the woman’s father, told the Los Angeles Times that his daughter was dropped off at the airport on Feb. 19 and she later called when reaching Phoenix.

Elizondo was given a calling card and was asked to call home every other day. The fall then occurred a day after her arrival in Arizona.


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