Naked tourist fell to her death on volcano viewing sunrise
A BACKPACKER fell to her death while walking naked along a Guatemalan mountain trail to watch the sunrise, an inquest has heard.
Catherine Shaw, 23, was feared to have been murdered when her body was found near San Juan La Laguna on March 5. Local police initially suspected foul play because her clothes had been removed and her head and legs were covered in wounds.
But Ms Shaw’s family have accepted that she probably fell after taking her clothes off so she could enjoy the morning sunshine more after a solo climb up a steep volcano.
Tarquin Shaw, her father, told Oxford Coroners’ Court yesterday: “This is something she was quite capable of. It is unusual for a 23-year-old to not be body conscious and she was not.” He
‘Catherine just loved mountains and sunrises. She died doing what she loved’
had previously said his daughter was “very comfortable in her own skin.”
A local post-mortem concluded Ms Shaw’s injuries were consistent with those suffered during a fall.
She could have become disoriented on the trail because she had been fasting for a few days before her death due to her spiritual beliefs, the inquest heard.
Ms Shaw, who lived near Witney, Oxfordshire, loved yoga, crystals and reiki healing, and had travelled to Spain, Australia, India and Mexico, often as a solo traveller, her family said. She had previously travelled to places “where nudity was accepted”.
They added: “Catherine just loved mountains and sunrises. She died doing what she loved.”
The inquest also heard that she had slipped in the same steep volcanic area a few days prior to her fatal fall, but she had been with a friend at the time.
Her body was discovered on March 11 after a massive police search involving volunteers and tracker dogs.
Concluding the inquest in Oxford, Darren Salter, the Oxfordshire Coroner, gave a ruling of accidental death.
He said: “On or about March 5, 2019, Catherine Shaw was believed to be hiking when she fell from a mountain trail, sustaining multiple injuries from which she died.”