Woman Falls To Her Death From Angels Landing

Nancy Maltez, 55, of Glendora, California, fell about a thousand feet to her death on the morning of Sunday, August 9th.  Maltez was hiking with her family when she fell from the north side of Angels Landing, a popular hiking destination in the park. The fall was first reported via a 911 call from another hiker’s cell phone. A St. George Police dispatcher received the call and notified the park. Rangers responded to Angels Landing while a park search and rescue team was mobilized and sent to the location to begin a search for the victim. The woman’s body was located on a steep, rugged, talus slope at the base of Angels Landing below the saddle area between Angels Landing and Scout Lookout. Two big wall climbers half way up a route below Angels Landing also witnessed the fall, as the victim fell dangerously close to their porta-ledge. A technical recovery was required to bring her body down to the floor of Zion Canyon. A rappel along the fall line was also performed to look for additional evidence along the cliff face. The Washington County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the fall in cooperation with the National Park Service. Plateau district ranger Ray O’Neil was the operations chief, Canyon district ranger Kevin Killian was the incident commander.