'Experienced and enthusiastic hiker' found dead in Bryce Canyon National Park

An Arizona teacher considered "an experienced and enthusiastic hiker" has been found dead after going missing last week in a national park in Utah, officials announced over the weekend.

Jeanne Roblez Howell, 64, disappeared Friday during a hike on the 8-mile Fairyland Loop trail at Bryce Canyon National Park, the U.S. National Park Service reported. Howell was reported missing around 7 p.m. after failing to check in from a 2 p.m. hike, officials said.

Body found in Campbell Canyon

Park officials said rescue teams with the Garfield County Sheriff’s office and the Utah Department of Public Safety searched the area and found Howell unresponsive at around 1:30 a.m. on Saturday.

Her body was found in Campbell Canyon, about a mile east of the Fairyland Loop.

A Garfield County medical examiner pronounced her dead at the scene.

Park officials said Howell lived in Sedona, Arizona.

Her cause and manner of death were not immediately known but officials said there was flash flooding in the area around the time she disappeared.

Flash flooding observed in area

A Friday afternoon thunderstorm brought heavy rain to the northern end of Bryce Canyon National Park, park officials said, saying it was seen along the trail where Howell was reportedly hiking.

“This is a tragic event, and our deepest sympathy goes out to the victim’s friends and family,” Allana Olbrich, acting Bryce Canyon superintendent said in a statement.

'An experience and enthusiastic hiker'

According to her Facebook page, Howell taught math at Verde Valley School in Sedona.

The school website says she taught math for more than 30 years in cities as far away as Johannesburg, South Africa, where she and her husband lived for four years. The site includes a photo of her in the outdoors dressed in hiking gear and smiling.

Neither Howell's husband nor a spokesperson for the school could immediately be reached for comment.

Benjamin Lee, head of school at Verde Valley School, told the Verde Valley Independent newspaper that Howell was "an experienced and enthusiastic hiker."

He said that the school "was in the grieving process with the community and her family."

Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter @nataliealund.