Body found in Grand Canyon was missing hiker, wife says

GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, Ariz. — Human remains recovered successful the Grand Canyon this week were those of the past remaining idiosyncratic missing aft the deadly flash flooding successful precocious August, the victim’s woman said Thursday.

The find of Timothy Allen Smith brought the decease toll to 3 from flooding that devastated the Phantom Ranch country astatine the canyon bottommost and damaged the h2o pipeline serving the South Rim.

Smith, 53, was a aviator from occidental Wyoming’s Star Valley. His remains were recovered Monday adjacent Crystal Rapids connected the Colorado River that runs done the canyon.

The remains of Smith’s 2 backcountry companions, Brent Rosenkranz, 42, and John Giusti, 46, some of Granbury, Texas, were recovered earlier.

Smith grew up successful Granbury and lived with his woman successful Star Valley Ranch, astir 40 miles (64 kilometers) southwest of Jackson.

He, Rosenkranz and Giusti were connected a multiday hiking, sportfishing and camping travel erstwhile flooding swept done the Grand Canyon.

During the two-day deluge, searchers utilized nighttime imaginativeness and different instrumentality to find radical successful request of rescue. They relied connected the Grand Canyon National Park’s licence strategy and checked conveyance licence plates to way those inactive missing. More than 80 radical were rescued.

Soon, lone Smith was missing. In a Facebook video astatine the time, his wife, Carrie, and their children thanked radical for their enactment and prayers.

On Tuesday morning, Carrie Smith posted connected Facebook that the household was alert a assemblage had been recovered a time earlier and asked others to commune with them.

Smith confirmed successful a Facebook station connected Thursday that the remains had been identified arsenic her husband’s.

“My household has done a batch of waiting implicit the past 3 weeks … waiting and hoping Tim (Daddy) would travel home, waiting and wondering if the remains recovered were Tim (Daddy),” she wrote. “We nary longer person to wait, Tim was recovered 2 days agone by the Rangers astatine Grand Canyon National Park. Not successful the mode we had hoped, but we cognize that helium was doing thing helium loved with John and Brent.”

She added, “We cognize that these 3 men loved the Lord and were a shining airy for Him. The interaction their lives had connected others is inactive being shown to our families daily.”

The National Park Service and Department of the Interior did not instantly instrumentality email messages seeking remark Thursday. The agencies person not publically identified the remains recovered this week.

The flooding began Aug. 29 during the summertime monsoon, oregon rainy, play erstwhile wide skies tin rapidly springiness mode to thunderstorms and dense rain. A godforsaken scenery tin funnel h2o from a deluge into abrupt torrents that rage down antecedently adust gullies and canyons.

The rainfall fell connected portion of a North Rim pain country near aft a lightning-caused wildfire successful July 2025. The occurrence destroyed the historical Grand Canyon Lodge, cabins and different structures.

Burn areas tin worsen flash flooding due to the fact that there’s little vegetation to sorb runoff.

The flooding damaged a pipeline spanning the canyon that supplies h2o to millions of tourists and residents. Insufficient h2o caused each overnight lodging to beryllium halted until the pipeline could beryllium restored. National Park Service officials said precocious that they expected to reconstruct a reliable h2o proviso successful the canyon successful weeks — not months — aft determining astir of a near-complete pipeline task was not damaged during the flash flood.

Many hiking trails and lodging areas stay closed, and h2o has been unopen disconnected successful the interior canyon, prompting advisories that hikers bring their ain h2o oregon h2o filtration devices.

Another flash flood deed the canyon on Bright Angel Creek and the Colorado River during a tempest Wednesday, parkland officials said. No injuries were reported. Authorities said efforts to minimize unit successful the canyon earlier the storm, arsenic good arsenic flash flood warnings, enabled crews to scope safety. Damage assessments were underway.