SPRINGDALE, Utah (ABC4) – A hiker is still missing days after being swept away by flash floods — and her family is hoping she’ll be found soon.
Jetal Agnihotri from Tucson, Arizona went missing on Friday when flash floods hit in Zion National Park.
Her family traveled to Utah to help with the search and are worried she still hasn’t been found.
“I mean we don’t have her, we don’t have a clue, we don’t know what’s she going through where she is,” Jetal’s brother Pujan Agnihotri said.
Pujan said they’re discouraged — he and his family are working closely with investigators, retracing Jetal’s steps.
He said all investigators have found so far is Jetal’s backpack.
“It’s frustrating, it’s already day three for us and we haven’t found anything new except for the backpack,” Pujan said.
But he said they still have hope, and that they trust Jetal to make wise decisions, describing her as someone who’s adventurous and knows how to take care of herself.
“She has done this before. She’s a very strong-minded girl, she’s very independent, she’s done lot of great stuff,” Pujan said.
But he said hiking in national parks isn’t something the rest of the family has experience in, making them even more worried.
“None of us are hikers or anything so we don’t know even what to do, where to find, we, we never done anything like this before,” Pujan said.
According to Zion National Park officials, hikers were on The Narrows trail when flash floods hit, sweeping several people away.
“When the National Park Service issues a flash flood warning, we share a flash flood warning and close the narrows,” Zion National Park Spokesperson Jonathan Shafer said.
He did not specify when the trail was closed, which frustrates Jetal’s family.
“Unfortunately, this flash flood came out of nowhere. There was no caution signs, there was no closure,” Pujan said.
For now, Jetal’s family said they’re hoping she’s okay and will be found soon.
Zion National Park officials say they did release flash flood warnings on Friday, eventually closing the trail.
The Narrows and Riverside Walk trails are currently closed due to their active investigation.
