Bridal Veil Falls hiker identified as man from Roosevelt, Utah
Jul 18, 2021, 12:29 PM | Updated: 1:59 pm
A Department of Public Safety helicopter and crew along with members of the Utah County Search and Rescue work to secure and recover the body of an adult male from a very steep rock face west of Bridal Veil Falls in Provo Canyon on Sunday, July 18, 2021. The man fell on Saturday afternoon while climbing with a juvenile who did not witness the accident. PHOTO CREDIT: Scott Winterton, Photojournalist, Deseret News
PROVO, Utah — Utah County officials have identified the man who fell to his death at Bridal Veil Falls on Saturday as Adrian Vanderklis, 40, of Roosevelt.
Adrian Vanderklis. (Photo credit: Utah County Sheriff’s Department
Vanderklis was climbing with his fiance’s 9-year-old son above the falls. The Utah County Sheriff’s Department said that the fiance could “see her son, who was crying, but that she could not see her fiance, and that she hadn’t seen him for several hours.”
Utah County Search and Rescue volunteers and a helicopter crew with the Department of Public Safety were called to the scene and found Mr. Vanderklis on what Sgt. Spencer Cannon described as a “very steep near-vertical slope.”
The location of the body was at an elevation of 5,800 feet and about one-third of a mile west of Bridal Veil Falls.
Cannon said that it was too dark for the recovery team to remove the body on Saturday night, and the operation was called off. Early Sunday morning, search and rescue workers were taken to the location of the body. He was transported to the Medical Examiner’s office for an autopsy.
“While it is unclear exactly why Mr. Vanderklis fell,” Sgt. Cannon said in a statement, “it is possible he stumbled or slipped on loose material.
“Regardless, it appeared he was killed immediately as a result of the fall.”
PREVIOUS REPORTING
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah County Search and Rescue was called for help after an adult male fell to his death while hiking at Bridal Veil Falls on Saturday night.
Google Maps: downloaded July 18, 2021
Sgt. Spencer Cannon, the spokesman for the Utah County Sheriff’s Office, said that the fall victim was on a “nearly vertical cliff,” making it difficult for recovery. Search and rescue crews had to wait until Sunday to start recovering the body.
He said the recovery site was nearly a half-mile west of, and between the Bridal Veil Falls.
Cannon said the man’s family is camping, and that his agency has been unable to reach them.
This story will be updated.
(Video of recovery helicopter landing near Bridal Veil Falls. Credit: Utah County Sheriff’s Office)
