A 38-year-old woman identified as Holly Suzanne Courtier has gone missing at the Zion National Park in Utah. The Woodland Hills, California, native arrived at the national park in a private shuttle bus at the Grotto parking area of the reserve, according to the authorities, but did not return to the bus when the visitors’ visit was over.
The Zion National Park Rangers in collaboration with the Washington County Sheriff’s Office have mounted a search and rescue operation for her recovery. According to her daughter, Kailey Chambers, Courtier had been traveling around the country and visiting several national parks since she lost her job as a nanny due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Chambers said her mother entered the national park on a shuttle around 1:30 pm on October 6 but failed to materialize when the shuttle was to return to town in the evening. She said her mother is an experienced hiker who had visited the Zion National Park several times before and very experienced with hiking alone. She said she even visited the park with her mother some months ago.
Chambers worried that the authorities will call off the search within two days if they have no additional information to go on with.
“They [police] have many search parties out looking for her,” she wrote on Instagram. “A lot of locals have gathered together to create extra search parties. It’s getting down to the final few days of survival without food. All the prayers we can get for her safe return and the safety of all those searching for her is greatly appreciated. I want to thank all of you for the kind messages, prayers, words of encouragement, and all the reposts.”
The authorities describe Courtier has to be 5-foot-3-inches tall and weighing 100 pounds. She has brown hair and blue eyes. On the day of her visit to the park, she is believed to be wearing a pistil gray trucker hat, a Patagonia black nano puff Jacket, a dark tank top, Danner trail gray hiking boots, and an osprey blue multi-day pack. She may also possibly have had a Kuhl cream open-front hoodie, a Rumpl Nanoloft puffy blanket, and a camouflage double-size hammock.
