South Bay girl dies in fall from Arizona overlook

A San Jose-area girl died after falling about 700 feet from a scenic overlook in Arizona on Christmas Eve, according to the Coconino County Sheriff’s Department.

The girl and her family, who were visiting from San Jose, parked in a lot half a mile from an overlook at Horseshoe Bend, a scenic area along the Colorado River. The girl, whose name wasn’t released, ran down the trail ahead of her family, according to Jon Paxton, a spokesman for the Cococino Sheriff’s Department.

When they could not find the girl, family members reported her missing around 2 p.m. and officials with the sheriff’s search-and-rescue unit, Arizona Department of Public Safety and National Park Service responded within two hours to search for the teen, Paxton said.

She was spotted at the bottom of Horseshoe Bend, about 700 feet below the overlook, but because it was about to get dark, rescuers couldn’t get to her body that day, according to the sheriff’s office.

Rescuers returned around 10 a.m. on Christmas Day to recover her body, which was transported to the county medical examiner’s office in Flagstaff, Ariz. The fall appears to have been an accident, but is still under investigation.

Authorities don’t intend to release the girl’s name until the investigation is complete.

The overlook gives a view of a Ushaped bend of the Colorado River about five miles south of Lake Powell’s Glen Canyon Dam.

Although a small viewing platform overlooking Horseshoe Bend has safety railings, most of the overlook isn’t fenced.