The wife of missing hiker Timothy Allen Smith said Thursday that remains recovered near Crystal Rapids were identified as her husband, accounting for the last person missing from the late-August flooding that killed three men and damaged critical Grand Canyon infrastructure.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, Ariz. — The last person reported missing following deadly flash flooding in the Grand Canyon has been found dead, bringing the death toll from the late-August disaster to three, according to the victim’s wife.
Carrie Smith said Thursday that human remains discovered Monday near Crystal Rapids along the Colorado River had been identified as her husband, Timothy Allen Smith, 53, a pilot who lived in western Wyoming’s Star Valley.
Smith had been missing for nearly three weeks after flooding swept through the Grand Canyon while he and two companions were on a multiday hiking, fishing and camping trip.
The bodies of the other two men, Brent Rosenkranz, 42, and John Giusti, 46, both of Granbury, Texas, had been recovered earlier.
Timothy Smith grew up in Granbury and later lived with his wife in Star Valley Ranch, Wyoming, about 40 miles southwest of Jackson.
Carrie Smith said her family spent weeks waiting for answers after her husband disappeared.
“My family has done a lot of waiting over the last three weeks … waiting and hoping Tim (Daddy) would come home, waiting and wondering if the remains found were Tim (Daddy),” she wrote Thursday. “We no longer have to wait, Tim was found two days ago by the Rangers at Grand Canyon National Park. Not in the way we had hoped, but we know that he was doing something he loved with John and Brent.”
She also remembered the three men for their Christian faith and the effect they had on those who knew them.
“We know that these three men loved the Lord and were a shining light for Him. The impact their lives had on others is still being shown to our families daily,” she wrote.
The family had learned Monday that human remains had been located, and Carrie Smith asked people Tuesday morning to continue praying while identification was pending.
The National Park Service and Department of the Interior had not publicly identified the remains as of Thursday and did not immediately respond to email requests for comment.
The deadly flooding began Aug. 29 during the region’s summer monsoon season, when thunderstorms can develop rapidly and dump large amounts of rain over the desert terrain.
The flooding caused extensive damage around Phantom Ranch at the bottom of the canyon and disrupted the pipeline that carries water across the canyon to facilities serving the South Rim.
As conditions deteriorated over two days, emergency crews conducted a large-scale search and rescue operation throughout the canyon.
Searchers used night-vision equipment and other tools to locate stranded people. Authorities also used Grand Canyon National Park’s backcountry permit system and checked vehicle license plates in an effort to determine who remained unaccounted for.
More than 80 people were rescued.
As crews continued searching, Rosenkranz and Giusti were found dead, leaving Smith as the only person still missing.
The weather event was intensified by conditions in an area of the North Rim that burned during a lightning-caused wildfire in July 2025.
That wildfire destroyed the historic Grand Canyon Lodge, cabins and other structures.
Burned landscapes can experience more severe flash flooding because vegetation that normally slows and absorbs rainfall has been stripped away, allowing water to move quickly across the ground and into washes, gullies and canyons.
The August flooding also damaged the trans-canyon water pipeline, a critical piece of infrastructure supplying water to park facilities used by millions of visitors as well as residents.
The resulting water shortage forced officials to suspend all overnight lodging while repairs were underway.
National Park Service officials later said they expected a dependable water supply to be restored within weeks rather than months after determining that most of a nearly completed pipeline project had survived the flooding.
Numerous hiking trails and lodging areas remain closed as recovery work continues.
Water service has also been shut off in portions of the inner canyon, leading park officials to advise hikers to carry sufficient water or bring equipment capable of filtering water.
The canyon faced another round of dangerous weather Wednesday when a separate flash flood struck areas along Bright Angel Creek and the Colorado River.
No injuries were reported in that flooding.
Park officials said personnel had been reduced in vulnerable areas before the storm and that flash flood warnings allowed remaining crews to move to safety before conditions worsened.
Officials were assessing damage from the latest storm.
The identification of Smith accounts for all three men who disappeared during the August flooding, ending the search for the final missing hiker nearly three weeks after the disaster began.
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