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Ashley Hayes Reporting Search and rescue crews removed a man's body from American Fork Canyon overnight. He fell 200 feet yesterday while trying to save a little girl.
The girl is recovering at Primary Children's Hospital.
A family from Magna had just completed a tour of Timpanogos Cave and was on the exit trail. The three-year-old girl was walking down the trail and fell about 75 feet.
A family friend visiting from Russia went down the mountain in an attempt to reach the little girl. While doing so, he slipped farther and fell about 200 feet.
A medical helicopter was able to hoist the little girl out of American Fork Canyon. She was flown to Primary Children's, where her condition has been upgraded from critical to serious. She is expected to make a full recovery.
Recovering the man's body was a difficult task. Falling rocks injured two crew members. They both had to be assisted out. It took several different attempts to get the body out.
Lt. Darren Gilbert, Utah County Sheriff's Office: "We were hoping to hoist him off the mountain also. But due to the technical aspect and the area he was located in, Life Flight couldn't get in there."
Authorities say the three-year-old fell off the trail because she was looking inside a bag of potato chips and not watching where she was going.
Lt. Darren Gilbert, Utah County Sheriff's Office: "We believe he went off the hill. There was conversation between him and another friend up on the mountain saying, 'Be careful. Watch your route.' Shortly thereafter he fell again and slipped down about 200 feet."
The man killed was 46 years old. The Sheriff's department is trying to contact the man's family and has not released his name.
The rescue effort jammed up traffic in American Fork Canyon yesterday. U-92 was closed part of the afternoon but is open now.
