20-Year-Old Woman's Body Recovered from Grand Canyon, 3rd Death at National Park in a Week

Mar. 15, 2025

Stock image of the Grand Canyon.Photo:RJ Sangosti/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images

RJ Sangosti/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images

A 20-year-old New Mexico woman is now the third person to be found dead at Grand Canyon National Park in the last week.

The body of Leticia A. Castillo was found below Twin Overlooks along Desert View Drive on Tuesday, Aug. 6, according to a news release from theNational Park Service.

The Albuquerque resident is believed to have entered the Grand Canyon on or around Saturday, Aug. 3.

Castillo’s body was eventually transported to the Coconino County Medical Examiner’s Office, where she was later identified.

Both the National Park Service and the CCME are investigating Castillo’s death.

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Castillo is the third person to die at Grand Canyon National Park in the last week. The first was 20-year-oldAbel Joseph Mejiaof Hickory, N.C., who accidentally fell to his death from the rim near the Pipe Creek Overlook on Wednesday, July 31.

“Mr. Mejia was near the edge of the rim when he suffered an accidental fall,” park service officials said in a statement at the time.

Turning Point Pentecostal Church later announced the 20-year-old had been on a “missions trip” when the “accident” happened.

The day before Mejia’s accident, an unidentified man died afterattempting an illegal BASE jumpwith a parachute from Yavapai Point into the Grand Canyon, according to park service officials.

The man’s body was later found about 500 feet below the rim of the canyon, alongside his opened parachute.

source: people.com