World enews: Crews searching for missing man in Grand Canyon find another man’s body

Rescue crews searching for a missing traveller have found the remains of another man in Grand Canyon National Park.

Arizona officials believe the remains to belong to Brooklyn man Scott Walsh, 56, who was last seen at the Grand Canyon’s South Rim in 2015. The skeletal remnants and clothing had been camouflaged by the natural surroundings. DNA testing is being conducted to confirm the identity of the body.

The unexpected discovery was found during a helicopter search for another missing traveller, Hungarian Gabor Berczi-Tomscanyi. Berczi-Tomscanyi was reported missing in July.

“It happens every once in a while here during searches that we end up finding people we weren’t expecting,” said Grand Canyon EMT and preventative search and rescue ranger Joelle Baird on Wednesday. “We weren’t necessarily looking for him, and he wasn’t a person that was really on our radar.”

Friends reported Berczi-Tomscany missing. Police found his car near in the Canyon’s parking lot in August, his body was discovered days later, some 130 metres below the rim at Yavapai Point. A fall is the cause of death, it’s unclear if it was accidental.

The additional body was discovered at Pipe Creek overlook, a few miles from where Walsh’s backpack was found in 2015 – which had prescriptions with his name on them, and a jacket with Walsh driver’s licence in it. The circumstances of Walsh’s supposed death are still unknown. The park has attempted to contact Walsh’s family, but has so far been unsuccessful. Friends of his have been notified of the discovery.

A number of remains have been found in the vast Grand Canyon National Park over the years. The area spans 1,904 square miles – it’s bigger than Hong Kong, Luxembourg, Bahrain, Barbados, and Moncao.

There could be up to eight people yet to be found in the Grand Canyon, all of whom were been reported missing over the past 10 years. In an average year, 12 people die at the Grand Canyon, causes of death include everything from accidental falls and dehydration to plane crashes.