Bodies of Tri-State men recovered in Utah canyon

KANE COUNTY, Utah (WXIX) - The bodies of two Tri-State men who were reported missing after going hiking in a Utah canyon have been recovered, according to the Kane County Sheriff’s Office in Utah.

West Chester police contacted the Kane County sheriff on May 22 after family reported they last spoke to Gary York, 65, of West Chester, and John Walter, 72, of Kettering, around 3 p.m. on May 20.

The families say York and Walter mentioned they were going for a hike into the canyon, according to the Kane County sheriff.

Lt. Alan Alldredge says a member of the Kane County Search and Rescue team received a message on May 21 from a group who reported they had located a deceased man in the canyon.

The body was recovered but the man did not have any identification on him, according to Lt. Alldredge.

Pictures provided by the family confirmed the body was that of Gary York, a news release from the Kane County Sheriff’s Office said.

The release says the search and rescue team later found Walter’s body downstream.

Lt. Alldrege says further investigation indicated that there was flash flooding during the time when York and Walter would have been hiking, “and it is believed they were caught by surprise and swept away by the rushing wall of water.”

York was carried close to 10 miles down the canyon by flood waters and Walters 7 to 8 miles, he said.

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