Body Of May Drowning Victim Recovered

Yosemite National Park (CA)
Body Of May Drowning Victim Recovered

On July 15th, the body of Katrin Lehmann, a German national, was recovered from the Merced River below Vernal Falls by YOSAR personnel. During a violent thunderstorm and downpour on May 18th, Lehmann fell from the Mist Trail into the raging Merced River, which was at peak spring runoff. Witnesses said that she fell off the trail, slid down a steep wet rock wall, then clung to a boulder in the river before being washed downstream by the strong current. On July 14th, YODOGS, a volunteer search dog team group, alerted in one area along the river. Supported by additional searchers, staff were able to locate Lehman’s partially submerged body, which was found wedged between a rock and a log in a swift water section of river approximately 150 yards downstream from the point where she was last seen. Two drooping high lines were used in the recovery operation – one for rescue ranger Aaron Smith and one for Lehmann’s body. Park forestry personnel using tree climbing equipment established the anchor points for the high lines about 80 feet up cedar trees located on each side of the river. The Mist Trail along the Merced River was closed for approximately 40 minutes during the recovery. Sixteen technical rope rescue personnel were utilized in the operation. Ranger Jack Hoeflich was the incident commander.

wow.. i often wondered about her... i was there just days earlier when she fell... but never heard anything more about it until now.. sad, very sad... i remember the water being VERY fast and dangerous at the time!!!