Yellowstone National Park officials are trying to figure out how a 32-year-old woman fell to her death into the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone just north of Tower Falls. The accident was reported Friday night and rangers spent the night in the canyon with the woman's body.
Park officials say Charlotte Harrison, of Beverly Hills, and her companion, a 39-year-old friend from Los Angeles, stopped at the Calcite Springs pullout Friday evening to take pictures of the area. Around 6:30 p.m. that evening rangers were alerted that a woman had fallen into the canyon.
A ranger rappelled 400-500 feet down into the canyon and confirmed that Ms. Harrison was killed from the fall. Due to the fading daylight and the ruggedness of the terrain, rangers stayed in the canyon with the body all night. On Saturday morning a helicopter was used to lift the woman's body out of the canyon.
The incident remains under investigation. Park officials ask that anyone who might have witnessed the fall call rangers at 307-344-2132.
Back in June 2006 this was the site of another fatal fall into the canyon. In that incident, a woman from Michigan stepped over the pullout's rock retaining wall and fell to her death.
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Comments
i am so sorry that this has happend again. i really hope this was a accident and not foul play. may both women rest in peace.
From what I have heard, this could be foul play.
Foul play? In what way? Was something seen or heard unusual? How do you hear something like that?
Im not sure this was foul play, because I drove by this accident less than 5 minutes after it happened while another person was on the phone with the national parks. The male compainion was visibly in a panic and very very upset. I have a police scanner and listen to the whole incident both on Friday evening and Saturday morning. There were rocky mountain big horn sheep that people were taking pictures of and maybe she tryed to get a better look or camera shot and lost her footing?? None less it was very sad and my heart goes out to the family and friends of Charlotte Harrison.
How come we can't know the name of the "panic ridden" man who was with her? Who is this person who wrote this last comment. Why does everyone know Charlotte's name but not his? Somebody knows something. How about starting with Van Susteren or pictures of her with friends from myspace.
I scan all the news on Yellowstone daily, usually 2-3 times a day, and I haven't seen a bit of news about this since it happened. Almost anything is possible; people really can accidentally plunge to their deaths from that location, one could commit suicide, or one could commit homicide. No matter what, it's certainly tragic, and as far as has been reported, still a mystery.
Jim Macdonald
The Magic of Yellowstone
Yellowstone Newspaper
Jim's Eclectic World
The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone seems to be amazing but I heard the park is not considered to be a good destination for mountaineering because of the instability of volcanic rock.
I'm reviving an old thread, because I wish I could revive my old friend (Charlotte).
Has anyone heard anything more about this, or have the authorities closed the investigation?