Body found of woman washed away in Grand Canyon floodwaters

(FLAGSTAFF, Ariz.) — The body of a 33-year-old woman who was swept away in flash flooding at the Grand Canyon has been discovered, according to the National Park Service.

Chenoa Nickerson of Gilbert, Arizona, had been missing since Thursday afternoon when heavy rain triggered a flash flood that washed her into Havasu Creek in the Grand Canyon, about a half mile from where the creek meets the Colorado River, according to the NPS.

Nickerson’s body was discovered at approximately 11:30 a.m. Sunday by a commercial river trip near river mile 176 in the Colorado River, the park service said in a press release.

Park rangers responded and recovered the body, which was transported to the rim of the canyon by helicopter and transferred to the Coconino County medical examiner.

An investigation into the incident is being conducted by the medical examiner and the NPS, according to the release.

At the time she disappeared, Nickerson was not wearing a life jacket, officials said.

Earlier Sunday, Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs activated the National Guard to help in the emergency rescue operations.

The search for Nickerson — described as 5 feet, 8 inches tall, 190 pounds with brown hair and blue eyes — was focused in the Beaver Falls area of the Grand Canyon, the National Park Service said, adding that rescue crews were searching by ground, air and boat. Nickerson was last seen wearing a black tank top, black shorts and blue hiking boots.

The National Park Service said Nickerson had been staying at a campground near the village of Supai on the Havasupai Reservations at the bottom of the Grand Canyon.

“We love her very much and are not giving up on her,” Nickerson’s family previously said in a statement to ABC News.

Nickerson was hiking at the time torrential rains hit and washed her into Havasu Creek, officials said.

The National Weather Service said the area received between 1 to 2 inches of rain within 60 to 90 minutes.

Other tourists camping and hiking in the area became trapped by the floodwaters, emergency officials said. The flooding also prompted rescues of residents at the Havasupai Indian Reservation in the Havasu Canyon area of the Grand Canyon.

The Havasupai Tribal Council said in a statement Saturday that all trails leading into and out of the small village of Supai in the Grand Canyon were made unpassable by the storm. The area is a popular tourist destination for its blue-green waterfalls, including Havasu Falls, which features a 100-foot vertical drop.

The Tribal Council said a campground near Supai sustained extensive damage from the flooding and had to be evacuated and closed.

“The Tribal Council’s focus is the health and safety of the tribal members and those that provide services in Supai,” according to the council’s statement.

“My heart is with all of the people impacted by the flooding in Havasupai, including tribal members and visitors to the area,” Hobbs said in a statement. “I am closely monitoring the situation and we have deployed the Arizona National Guard to get people to safety. The safety and security of Arizonans and all those who visit our state is always my top concern, and I’ll continue working closely with leaders on the ground to protect the Havasupai community.”

National Guard officials said it used helicopters to evacuate 104 tourists and residents of the Havasupai Indian Reservation from flooded areas by Saturday afternoon.

Supai resident Rochelle Tilousi told ABC News that at one point she was cut off from her children by the rushing flood waters.

“We could see the children running trying to beat the flood, but they couldn’t,” Tilousi said, adding that the children survived the flooding and are now safe.

She said her family’s pets were washed away by the flood.

“There is part of our village that is still flooded,” Tilousi said Saturday.

Editor’s Note: Chenoa Nickerson was not wearing a life jacket when she was swept away by floodwaters. This story has been updated to reflect that information.

ABC News’ Vanessa Navarrete contributed to this report.

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