CHICAGO, Illinois, September 2, 2026 — Almost a week after flash floods roared through the inner corridor of one of the world’s greatest natural wonders, search crews are still looking for one hiker. This week, two members of his hiking group, John Guisti, 46, and Brent Rosenkranz, 42, were identified as being among the dead. Timothy Smith, 53, from Granbury, Texas, is still unaccounted for.
When Adventure Turns into Disaster
The three friends came to the park Friday to go hiking and fishing, according to their families. The following afternoon, floodwaters roared down Bright Angel Canyon and the Phantom Ranch area. Relatives identified the men a day before their deaths were confirmed by the National Park Service.
Over the weekend, one body was recovered from Crystal Rapids on the Colorado River. Rescue teams initially reported about 15 missing or unaccounted for. All but Smith had been found by Tuesday.
Guisti and Rosenkranz had come from Texas for what was supposed to be a quick fishing and hiking excursion. The group was going to spend several days in the inner canyon, their families said. The required response instead transformed an ordinary outing into a multi-agency emergency response, following the flooding.
Border Patrol Joins the Search
A U.S. Border Patrol technical search team is now assisting National Park Service crews in the canyon. Operations were complicated by more storms that remained in the area this week. Burned hillsides nearby have lost the vegetation that usually slows runoff, an environmental hazard documented by the U.S. Geological Survey.
Tuesday in a written statement, the park service said: “Search and recovery operations continue. Crews search for Smith and make sure no one else is unaccounted for. Crews are also evaluating damage to the Trans-Canyon Waterline.”
Park permit system records say crews accounted for all but one person, Incident Commander David Black said. He noted that many day hikers do not have to register a permit at all. That gap makes knowing, exactly, how many people were in the canyon that day impossible.
Bridges Down, Access Cut Off
At 2:30 p.m. local time on Aug. 29, flash flooding swept through Bright Angel Canyon and Phantom Ranch. Most footbridges across Bright Angel Creek were destroyed in the surge. This has taken hiker access across the creek away in a number of places.
Over the next few days, officials evacuated dozens of campers and backpackers by air. Camper Erica Viola is one of those evacuees; she says she lost almost everything. She had to travel with her husband a hundred miles away on foot, from their site at Bright Angel Campground.
Sections of the aging Trans-Canyon Waterline were described as “battered, bruised and decimated” by deputy superintendent Brian Drapeaux. A new landscape, tinted by the floodwaters, awaits repair crews. Evacuated residents were transported to the Maswik Lodge Cafeteria at the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park where the American Red Cross coordinated support.
Often a Challenging Section of the Path
Rich Rudow, a canyoneer who has been exploring the Grand Canyon for almost 40 years, described the zone of danger. He said an area called “The Box” near Phantom Ranch essentially would have been “impossible to escape from” in the floods. These narrow walls trap floodwater with almost nowhere for hikers to climb.
The park has stopped issuing overnight stays and also ordered water conservation measures while repairs are ongoing. Investigators want to hear from any hikers passing through the corridor, providing a tip line for information. Crews continue to search for Smith ahead of the next round of monsoon storms.
“I think about the families of all those who are still missing; my heart is with them,” said Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs. State emergency management teams were providing direct assistance to the park service, she said. The flooding is the latest in a string of dangerous, rapidly moving storms to impact the Southwest this summer.
