After losing her balance and falling 30 feet off a ledge off of a hiking path in Utah, a 17-year-old girl was killed.
On a route near Kane Creek in the Moab community on a Friday afternoon, Zoe McKinney was hiking with a group of friends.
Before she fell from the ledge, she had reached a steep place without equipment.
Around 4:10 p.m., McKinney’s fall was reported to police, but they had trouble finding her due to how far she had fallen—they described it as a “deep, cliffy place.”
An officer was able to reach the 17-year-old by rappelling down using ropes and harnesses with assistance from several other agencies in the area. On-site medical personnel declared McKinney deceased.
According to Moab Police Assistant Chief Lex Bell, who knew McKinney, the entire town will be devastated by her passing.
‘She’s really well-known in the community and I’ve met her,’ Bell said. ‘It’s unbelievably tragic.’
McKinney was set to receive an award from her school – Grand County High School – at halftime of the varsity basketball game that very evening.
‘The timing is even just that much more tragic with tonight and what was going to occur,’ Bell added.
The assistant police chief referred to Moab and Grand County as a very close community where everyone knew each other and that McKinney had numerous family and friends in the area.
‘We’re all very emotional. Some much more than others. A lot of us are fathers and mothers of children about that age. Myself included,’ Bell told KUTV. ‘These are the hardest things that we deal with. So yeah, there were a lot of tears on scene and there will be.’
Grand County High School made a statement identifying McKinney on Friday evening.
‘The school community is grieving with Zoe’s family and will provide love and support in any way we can, including having therapists available at school on Monday. Zoe was a remarkable student and we will honor her memory throughout the remainder of this senior year,’ school officials wrote.
The school district provided a hotline for any students seeking counseling following McKinney’s passing.