Woman Killed by Falling Boulder on Stansbury Island
Mar 2, 2019, 9:26 PM | Updated: 9:44 pm
STANSBURY ISLAND, Utah – A 37-year-old woman was killed when a boulder fell on her while hiking.
Lieutenant Travis Scharmann of the Tooele County Sheriff’s Office said the accident happened around 3:00 Saturday afternoon. He said the woman was hiking with her husband and a friend.
“The information we’re getting from the witness is she stepped on the rock. The rock started moving. Her foot got caught. She fell over in front of the rock and the rock slid over on top of her,” Scharmann said.
Scharmann said the rock was about four feet by four feet and about two feet thick. They believe she died on impact. He said another group heard them screaming and got in touch with dispatch. When first responders arrived, they found a challenging situation.
“The terrain is very steep and it’s very slick right now, so that’s going to be a challenge getting personnel up to the body and recovering,” Scharmann said.
Crews from several agencies worked for hours to reach the scene. Regular vehicles could not get closer than about a quarter mile away. From there, they had to carry recovery gear in.
“We have a jaws of life up there that’s battery operated that they’re going to try to move the rock with. If that doesn’t work, we have a generator with some airbags we’re going to try to lift the rock off of her,” Scharmann said.
By about 7:30 Saturday evening, they had moved the rock and recovered the woman’s body, sending it to the state medical examiner’s office. Investigators have not released her name.
