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Backpacker Magazine – June 2007
Freefall: Tragedy in the Grand Canyon
Arizona's Havasu Canyon is a hiker's paradise famed for its jaw-dropping waterfalls. But now there's trouble in paradise—serious trouble.
Searchers interviewed tourists along the Falls Trail and in the campground. They went below the campground to check out places Hanamure might have explored on a dayhike. Supai was at the peak of its busy season, with hundreds of campers and the lodge fully booked. But no one reported seeing Hanamure at the falls or campground. Her rental car offered no clues. The only information extracted from the village was that Hanamure had been observed walking with a tall man who appeared to be Asian, and visiting the café with a red-haired, heavily tattooed man with an Irish accent.
On the fourth day of the operation, a tribal member swimming near Fifty Foot Falls spotted a female body submerged in the blue-green water, and reported the location to authorities. Officials couldn't legally identify the body until an autopsy was performed. But law enforcement at the scene knew it was Hanamure, and knew she had been murdered.The corpse was riddled with stab wounds.
Officers pronounced the woman dead at the scene at 2:45 p.m. on May 13, 2006. The SAR crew was flown down to help with the extraction, and an FBI dive team came in to scour the pool for evidence. Investigators tied yellow crime-scene tape around bushes along the trail and the creek at Fifty Foot Falls, a known gathering spot for village youth. Officers placed Hanamure's remains in a body bag and carried it to the village, where the Arizona DPS helicopter waited. Search members flying out that day remember a film crew for the Travel Channel headed down the same switchbacks that Hanamure had descended five days earlier. The crew was there to film a program called Grand Canyon: Nature's Great Escape.
Since state regulations prohibit the transport of corpses inside DPS choppers, Hanamure was strapped on a litter that was suspended from a cable. With her shrouded body dangling below, the helicopter climbed 3,000 feet through the orange, red, green, and ivory geologic strata.
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READERS COMMENTS
Just back from an 8 day adventure in Havasupai. The indigenous people there were only caring, thoughtful and kind as were the fellow tourists/hikers. The tribe has worked diligently repairing the trail damage from last year's flood to amazing results. It's tragic that you all are avoiding such a genuinely enigmatic and rare spot on this earth to justify your own lack of tolerance and acceptance--Discounting an entire population based on one incident is akin to apartheid--and No, JT This beautiful little canyon and Supai village are NOT places of violence and death, and NO whomever, robbery & rape are NOT everyday issues, and the person who wrote about the children attacking teachers and the 300% higher than national average addiction rate--did you make that up--I can't seem to find any evidence or information that supports that.
Jenn.
Posted: Oct 07, 2009 Jenn
It is hard to respect the Havasupai for doing this to themselves and their land.
You blame people who are long dead, and you are as racist as the worst racists.
You embrace misery -- perhaps some of you are right, and the recent floods were to smite you. The "white" people you so loathe take far better care of the land than YOU do. Look in the mirror for the shame that is so well-deserved. I did nothing to you. But you CONTINUE to be your own worst enemies. Pathetic.
No reverence from me for people who respect nothing, but expect everyone else to respect them blindly. You are NOT worthy.
Posted: Jun 01, 2009 Kia
This place, Havasupai Village, is filled with violence and drugs with an addicition rate 300% higher than the national average. Small school children have been arrested for trying to attach teachers and playmates while high on meth, the drug of choice in the Village.
Robbery of tourist/hikers as well as rape and beatings are every day issues in the Village. You can find more drugs in the Village per capita than you will in an major city.
This is a place of violence and death with no social justice since the Indians say they are a seperate and independent nation and not bound by the outsiders laws....good luck if you travel there.
Posted: Jun 01, 2009 JT
How sad! It is a beautiful area I am going to stay away from.
Posted: May 04, 2009 x, gong
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