Indiana woman, 61, found dead in a Utah national park

Joe Schroeder

Updated: Jul 1, 2023 / 10:02 AM CDT

MOAB, Utah (WXIN) – A 61-year-old Indiana woman was found dead this week at a campground inside a national park in Utah, officials said.

The U.S. National Park Service said communication operators at Utah’s Grand County Dispatch got a report Wednesday of an unresponsive woman at the Willow Flat Campground in Canyonlands National Park.

No official cause of death was provided by NPS officials after a 61-year-old woman was found unresponsive at Canyonlands National Park in Utah on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Mickey Krakowski, File)

National Park Service rangers, Grand County EMS and San Juan County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to find the unresponsive woman. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

The National Park Service did not share the woman’s identity, but have notified next-of-kin.

“San Juan County Sheriff’s Office and the National Park Service are conducting a cooperative investigation into the manner and cause of death,” NPS said in a release sent Thursday.

Southern Utah, where the Canyonlands are located, has seen exceptionally hot temperatures this week. (AP Photo/Jennifer Weber, File)

No official cause of death was provided by NPS, though it was exceptionally hot in the area when the woman’s death occurred. Throughout the week, temperatures fluctuated between the high-80s and mid-90s in Moab, Utah, near the Canyonlands.

Summer heat had also been steadily building in Utah over the past week, Nexstar’s KTVX reported. Certain areas of southern Utah, where the Canyonlands are located, are expected to reach temperatures in excess of 100 degrees early next week, the outlet reported.