MOAB, Utah (AP) - Officials have identified a California BASE jumper found dead in Zion National Park, marking the third fatality in the past two months by adventurers parachuting from Utah cliffs.
A rescue crew recovered the body of Sean Leary, 38, around 11 a.m. Tuesday, spokeswoman Aly Baltrus said.
Search and rescue crews repelled from helicopters to retrieve the body that was first spotted Sunday afternoon. Family members reported last hearing from Leary on March 13 and said he had planned a trip to the park to climb rocks and BASE jump there.
The sport involves jumping with a parachute from buildings, bridges and other towering features.
In early February, Amber Bellows, 28, of Salt Lake City died in the park when her parachute failed to open.
On Friday, Kevin A. Morroun, 35, of Moab died jumping from a cliff west of Moab in southeast Utah.
Officials have outlawed the activity in each national park, except for the New River Gorge Bridge in West Virginia, where it’s allowed during an annual parachuting event, National Parks Service spokesman Jeff Olson said.
But federal lands comprise much of Utah’s soaring red rock, so launching from them is still legal.
Thrill-seekers can reach canyon and cliff launch points there by foot. That’s a key draw for the jumpers, who must trek up to the sites, said Steph Davis, the owner of Moab B.A.S.E. Adventures.
Moab is “a real hotspot for cliff-jumping around here,” Davis said. “If you look around Main Street, you’re going to see cliffs in every direction.”
The sport evolved out of skydiving, she said, and took off in the 1980’s and 1990’s.
Zion National Park has taken legal action against four BASE jumpers, Baltrus said. But the sport is difficult to police, she said.
The two recent deaths are the only known deaths in the park related to the sport, Baltrus said.
“They tend to do it in areas we don’t see them,” she added, so it’s hard to know how many adventurers are taking off in remote corners of the park.
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