Boy Scout Dies During Backpacking Trip

Zion National Park (UT)
Boy Scout Dies During Backpacking Trip

On July 21st, twelve members of a Las Vegas-based Boy Scout troop were completing the second day of a planned four day backpacking trip in the park. Corey Buxton, 17, was having difficulty and lagged behind as the group hiked south along the Hop Valley Trail. Around noon, a leader who was hiking a short distance in front of Buxton turned around and did not see him. He hiked five minutes back down the trail to the point where he last saw Buxton, but could not find the boy. Rangers conducted a hasty search that afternoon by foot and helicopter with no success. More than 25 NPS personnel participated in the search the next day. Four dog teams from the Zion K-9 SAR Team, based in Hurricane, Utah, joined the operation. Early in the afternoon, two of the dog teams alerted on a side canyon near the point last seen. Ground searchers discovered Buxton’s body there. It appears that he hiked about 500 feet off of the trail and into the brushy side canyon. A cause of death will be determined by the state medical examiner’s office.