Woman fell, died while climbing tree in Utah park, police say
By Cassidy Wixom
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MOAB, Utah (KSL) — A woman found dead at a Moab park on Monday likely fell while climbing a tall tree, police said.
At about 6:15 a.m., a Moab resident was on a walk at Swanny Park, 400 N. 100 West, when they noticed a tree branch on the ground under the largest tree in the southwest part of the park. The resident then saw that a person was partially covered by the branch and ran to the nearby Aquatic Center to call for help.
Moab police, fire, emergency services and county deputies all responded to the scene.
“Unfortunately, it was clear the woman found on the ground had passed away hours earlier and was beyond help,” Moab police said in a statement Tuesday.
The woman’s identity has not been released, but police said she was in her mid-30s.
Investigators believe the woman arrived at the park sometime after 1:30 a.m. and had been climbing the large tree. At the top of the tree, she would have been about 40 feet off the ground.
The broken branch was determined to have been part of two branches that formed a “V” shape at the top of the tree, police said.
“We believe the victim was standing in the ‘V’ when one of the branches broke, causing the victim to fall head-first onto the ground below,” police said. “The fall would likely have been instantly fatal.”
The woman’s injuries are consistent with sustaining a fall from that height onto grass, but police are waiting for an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death. Evidence points to the situation being a tragic accident, police said.
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