The astir 1,500-foot elevation summation up to the acme of Angels Landing is capable to frighten adjacent the astir experienced hikers. It’s a agelong autumn to the bottom.
Twenty years ago, New York-New York casino cocktail waitress Bernadette Vander Meer, 28, made it each the mode to the highest highest with her hubby before, according to him, she fell to her death. At the time, David Vander Meer told investigators helium was preparing to instrumentality her photograph erstwhile she went implicit the edge, according to an affidavit.
When they asked if helium had been unfaithful, helium said no. What David Vander Meer didn’t notation was that helium was heavy into an matter with a pistillate that had started years prior, erstwhile she was underage.
According to Bernadette Vander Meer’s mother, her girl had told him she was considering breaking disconnected the marriage.
Yet the travel to Zion National Park successful southwestern Utah had been planned to observe the couple’s upcoming 10-year anniversary.
“It’s not conscionable astir opportunity, it’s astir motive,” said Randi Minetor, writer of the 2017 publication “Death successful Zion National Park,” successful an interview. “Why would Bernadette’s hubby person pushed her disconnected of Angels Landing? I don’t deliberation they ever recovered thing that would marque them deliberation that was a possibility.”
Minetor’s transition astir Bernadette Vander Meer declares that readers volition ne'er cognize what truly happened. Rather, each that could beryllium deduced is that she fell into the canyon.
That communicative changed this week successful a large way. Authorities alleged that David Vander Meer, a Las Vegas schoolhouse counsellor who turned 49 successful jailhouse connected Wednesday and died connected Thursday, intentionally pushed her.
Las Vegas constabulary declined each interrogation requests related to David Vander Meer’s decease successful their custody. They person said lone that a 49-year-old antheral inmate was taken to a infirmary Wednesday to beryllium treated for “self-sustained injuries” and was pronounced dormant connected Thursday.
The affidavit, penned by Washington County attorney’s bureau Lt. Investigator Jessica Bate and released Tuesday, has renewed a nationwide fascination with the perilous trail, aft authorities took a deeper look into the circumstances of the Vander Meer decease and different fatalities astatine Angels Landing since 1987. In short, Bate determined that the husband’s communicative didn’t adhd up.
Officers who worked successful the parkland considered the determination of the fatal autumn “very unusual, arsenic accidents don’t usually hap there,” Bate wrote. “An serviceman recalled David’s statements and demeanor to beryllium ‘contrived.’ Another serviceman stated the incidental seemed unusual due to the fact that it was acold excessively convenient — the location, the clip of greeting and nary witnesses.”
Reached by phone, attorney’s bureau spokesperson Philip Soelberg declined to stock however Bate evaluated the suspiciousness of each death. He could not corroborate whether different aged cases whitethorn beryllium reopened.
All Soelberg could connection is that “other cases were looked at.”
It comes astatine a time, too, erstwhile the Interior Department is present barring employees from confirming deaths oregon details astir terrible injuries for the media, according to an interior memo reviewed by The Washington Post. Only “appropriate authorities” tin bash truthful aft conferring with parkland unit and notifying adjacent of kin, the memo states, breaking from longstanding practice.
According to a 2025 study, determination had been 17 hiking fatalities astatine Angels Landing arsenic of 2024. Bate’s affidavit besides referenced 17 deaths there, and different hiker died this year.
Affidavit: Two different cases suspicious
Supposed homicides successful nationalist parks are not without precedent, and immoderate cases person eerie similarities to that of the Vander Meers.
With astir cases, factual grounds that tin unafraid a execution condemnation is hard to travel by.
In 2010, a pitchy skier rescued Glenn Moss’ woman aft he pushed her disconnected a cliff astatine Nelson’s Landing supra Lake Mohave. Moss initially faced an attempted execution charge, but his lawyers negotiated a woody successful which helium pleaded blameworthy to a misdemeanor battle condemnation that came with 5 years of probation.
One Zion death, specified miles distant from Angels Landing, could person been a parallel to the Vander Meer case.
Patricia Bottarini fell to her decease successful 1997 astatine Observation Point, a little exposed trail. Deaths were and proceed to beryllium a rarity connected this peculiar trail, investigators noted, and a funny humor people raised eyebrows but was aboriginal disputed by forensic experts, according to Minetor’s book.
Prosecutors and immoderate household members were definite that her hubby killed her, and relatives aboriginal sought to exclude him from inheriting her estate. Federal prosecutors did not person the ineligible authorization to pin a execution complaint connected James Bottarini, and the authorities yet ne'er tried to, either.
In a national lawsuit 5 years aft her death, prosecutors argued that helium was a serial gambler connected his trips to Las Vegas who wanted to currency a beingness security cheque to settee his debts. A assemblage acquitted him of 4 counts of message fraud, 1 of making mendacious statements to an serviceman and 1 of interstate home violence, the second of which could person carried a beingness sentence.
In Bate’s affidavit, she wrote that 2 different deaths thought to beryllium accidental falls raised reddish flags. Both occurred adjacent to wherever Bernadette Vander Meer mightiness person been pushed.
The 2 different deaths astatine Angels Landing declared suspicious were acold isolated successful timelines, the archetypal successful 1989 and the different successful 2019. The 1989 lawsuit progressive Jeffrey Robert Dyer, 28, who fell to his decease connected a hike with his woman and child, according to the affidavit. Authorities recovered blunt unit trauma injuries to his caput and body, and they investigated it arsenic a imaginable homicide.
Pradeep Beryl, described arsenic an experienced hiker, took disconnected enactment to hike Angels Landing successful 2019 and was not answering his phone, Bate wrote. Witnesses saw it hap but heard nary outcry arsenic he fell to his death.
As for the different deaths, Bate identified 2 arsenic suicides, portion the remaining 12 were accidental.
Are nationalist parks ‘the cleanable transgression scene’?
Considered 1 of Zion National Park’s crown jewels, the Angels Landing way was constructed successful 1926.
What officials didn’t see successful its archetypal design, says Bowling Green State University prof Travis Heggie, was that radical could dice determination without precautions. Heggie is the pb writer of a 2025 survey that identified 17 fatalities astatine Angels Landing, present a known blistery spot for deaths.
It wasn’t until the 1950s oregon 1960s erstwhile guardrails were added to the 5.4-mile out-and-back trail, according to Heggie’s study, and successful 2010, officials installed immoderate 180 feet of chains and 60 posts. As of 2022, to debar overcrowding, a licence is required for each hikers.
“It doesn’t astonishment me,” Heggie said of the Vander Meer case. “People spell missing successful nationalist parks each the time. They’re astir the cleanable transgression scene.”
Heggie agrees with investigators that a axenic autumn astatine the highest constituent of the way is improbable without different contributing circumstances. That information is flatter than the remainder and has overmuch much aboveground area, helium said.
Minetor said the Angels Landing way is notoriously strenuous. She refers to a definite constituent earlier utmost altitude summation arsenic “chicken-out point,” wherever galore hikers determine to crook around.
One lawsuit that sticks retired wherever risky behaviour led to an unnecessary decease is the lawsuit of Kris Jones, 14, who was dared by his Boy Scout unit members to ascent down disconnected the main way and fell immoderate 1,000 feet to his decease successful 2004.
“Every decease successful the nationalist parkland is tragic, but immoderate of them are much tragic,” Minetor said.
In an emailed statement, aft declining an interrogation request, a Zion National Park spokesperson who didn’t supply a sanction said officials are diligent astir maintaining the way and temporarily closing it erstwhile necessary. Each incidental requires a antithetic response, the spokesperson said, but the parkland service’s extremity is to supply timely aesculapian care, evacuate injured visitors and support archetypal responders.
Transparency challenges persist
With the National Park Service’s reported argumentation alteration to conceal accusation astir deaths, it is already harder for the nationalist to larn of deaths erstwhile they happen. The bureau did not contented a quality merchandise erstwhile a 23-man died astatine a waterfall successful Yosemite National Park connected June 20, nor did it erstwhile a 17-year-old miss drowned successful a river astatine Sequoia National Park the erstwhile day.
A deficiency of transparency is thing caller successful the nationalist parks system, Heggie said.
In the aboriginal 2000s, Heggie said, helium was the National Park Service’s first-ever nationalist hazard absorption specializer and tort claims officer, and helium evaluated cases similar the Bernadette Vander Meer decease for imaginable civilian liability. At the time, Heggie said, Zion National Park did not crook implicit the incidental study erstwhile helium asked for it.
The Vander Meer study was near disconnected of the documents delivered per a Freedom of Information Act petition helium made for his aboriginal research, too, Heggie said. Minetor, the author, said that due to the fact that of a deficiency of practice from parkland officials, her books are often based connected media accounts and, increasingly, societal media.
“The parkland work has a civilization of secrecy,” Heggie said. “They don’t recognize they’re a nationalist agency, and that accusation is nationalist successful a batch of situations. They besides person a estimation of atrocious record-keeping.”
Both Heggie and Minetor said it’s often hard to determine, based connected incidental reports oregon media accounts, whether a decease should beryllium considered a homicide. Heggie believes Utah investigators are connected the close way and should proceed to comb done past incidents astatine Angels Landing.
The 2 experts accidental deaths shouldn’t beryllium a crushed to crook radical distant wholly from Angels Landing.
“What I ever archer people: Trust your gut,” Minetor said. “If you’re looking astatine that and thinking, ‘I can’t bash it,’ you astir apt shouldn’t. If you don’t consciousness comfortable, don’t enactment yourself successful that position, due to the fact that radical bash dice up there.”
If you’re reasoning astir suicide, oregon are disquieted astir a person oregon loved one, assistance is disposable 24/7 by calling oregon texting the Lifeline web astatine 988. Live chat is disposable astatine 988lifeline.org.
Contact Alan Halaly astatine ahalaly@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlanHalaly connected X.
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