The grieving wife of missing hiker Timothy Allen Smith confirmed that human remains recovered in the Grand Canyon earlier this week belong to her husband.
Smith, a 53-year-old father and pilot from western Wyoming’s Star Valley, died along with his two friends, chiropractor John Giusti, 46, and Brent Rosenkranz, when catastrophic flash flooding hit the national park.
“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),” heartbroken Carrie Smith wrote in a heartbreaking Facebook post.
“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 continued.
“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.”
Smith’s remains were recovered near Crystal Rapid on the Colorado River on Monday, according to the National Park Service.
The three friends, who are all originally from Granbury, Texas, were on a multi-day hiking and fishing trip when the flash flood hit around 2:30 p.m. on Aug. 29.
The flooding destroyed footbridges over Bright Angel Creek, ripped debris and metal structures into the Colorado River and severely damaged infrastructure throughout the canyon.
Emergency crews rescued about 80 people in total from the canyon during the two-day deluge.
