Two people plunged about 380 feet to their deaths from a popular lookout spot at Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah, the authorities said on Tuesday, the day their bodies were recovered.
It was unclear what had led to their falls or how long their bodies had been there, but the two, a man and a woman, appeared to have climbed over a safety railing atop Inspiration Point, said Wade Mathews, a spokesman for the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office.
As of midday on Wednesday, officials had not released the names of the two people, who they said had been living in a U-Haul truck at the time of their deaths and whose last known address was in Florida.
Their bodies were spotted by tourists, according to the sheriff’s office, which said that they had most likely died late on Monday night or on Tuesday morning. Emergency responders used a helicopter in the recovery process.
There was snow on the ground at the top of the cliff earlier this week, which the authorities said could have created slippery conditions.
Perched above chimney-like rock formations known as hoodoos, Inspiration Point is among the more famed vantages along the Rim Trail in Bryce Canyon National Park in south-central Utah. The landscape forms a natural amphitheater, which is particularly popular at sunrise.
There is a safety rail with chain-link fencing at the bottom, between the trail and the cliff’s edge.
The National Park Service was not immediately available for comment on Wednesday.
Neil Vigdor covers breaking news for The Times, with a focus on politics.
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