Alldredge said authorities received a call Monday from the spouse of a hiker who had not returned home from a hike they began Friday. The hikers were on a multiday trek from Wire Pass to Lees Ferry through Buckskin Gulch's sandstone features that includes multiple narrow slot canyons.
One man is dead and another is still missing after floodwaters poured into a slot canyon in southern Utah, on March 14, 2023.
Authorities did not release any of the hiker's names. Alldredge said the dead man was from the Tampa, Florida area.
The "atmospheric river" storms that swept parts of the western United States last weekend raised the water level in the canyons before additional floodwaters spilled into the slot canyons early this week. Authorities continued to search for the missing hiker as weather forecasts predicted additional rain Wednesday.
Two Utah Department of Public Safety helicopters surveyed the area looking for the missing hiker. After being called for the group of three, they also helped extract 11 other people stuck in frigid floodwaters who had called for help.