Missing Louisiana Woman Found dead in Grand Canyon

Publish date: 2022-01-09

Remains believed to be those of a 22-year-old Louisiana woman were found in the Grand Canyon on Saturday – nearly four months after she was reported missing, PEOPLE confirms.

Rangers believe they found the body of Diana Zacarias, of Natchitoches, under Pima Point during their training on July 30, a Grand Canyon National Park spokeswoman tells PEOPLE. The spokeswoman says that the medical examiner will make the “final positive ID.”

The National Park Service unsuccessfully searched for the woman for several days after she was reported missing on April 3, according to an NPS statement.

Park officials said Zacarias arrived on the South Rim of the park on April 2 and is believed to have visited Yaki Point and Lookout Studio.

No additional details of her death were immediately available, according to multiple reports.

Officials with the Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts, where Zacarias was once a student, remembered her in a Facebook post.

“Our deepest condolences are with the Zacarias family,” the post read. “Diana was one of three siblings who attended LSMSA. May the family find peace and comfort in this difficult time.”

Both NPS and the Coconino County medical examiner are investigating the incident, the Associated Press reports.

The spokesperson told USA Today that the Grand Canyon sees up to 15 deaths a year, most of them due to heat or other medical issues.

The discovery comes nearly a month after 35-year-old Colleen Burns, of Orlando, Florida, fell about 400 feet to her death off of the canyon’s Ooh Aah Point.

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