On Saturday, July 9, at approximately 3:45 p.m. Sedona Fire District crews responded to the area of 5900 N State Route 89A near Manzanita Campground, a short distance south of Slide Rock State Park, according to SFD Community Risk Reduction Division Chief Dori Booth.
“The call was for a male approximately 30 years of age that had not resurfaced from the water after jumping from an area frequented by visitors for cliff/rock jumping,” Booth stated. “Due to the length of time underwater, this call was transitioned to a search and recovery versus a search and rescue.”
“After approximately 1 hour of searching, the victim was located submerged, and brought to the surface where the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office and Coconino County Medical Examiner took over the incident.”
“At this time, this appears to be a tragic accident,” Coconino County Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Jon Paxton stated. “The victim, Austin Smith, a 36-year-old male out of the Phoenix area, was recreating with family members along Oak Creek at a swimming /cliff jumping area just south of Manzanita Campground in Oak Creek Canyon.”
“Smith was jumping off a cliff 15 feet to 20 feet above the creek,” Paxton said. “Smith had made this jump multiple times that day, according to family members. At this time, it is unclear as to what went wrong on this attempt. After not surfacing, family members attempted to locate [Smith], but could not and called 911.”
“Sedona Fire along with our office responded and were still unable to locate Mr. Smith,” Paxton said. “The Coconino County Search and Rescue were requested. As stated, over one hour later Mr. Smith was located down river under a ledge about 25 yards from where he entered in 15 feet to 20 feet of water.”
The Coconino County Medical Examiner’s Office will make the final conclusion as to cause but at this time drugs or alcohol are not suspected, Paxton stated.
Agencies that assisted with this call were Sedona Fire District, Arizona Department of Public Safety, Arizona Department of Transportation, Coconino National Forest Service Law Enforcement, Coconino County Sheriff’s Office and Coconino County Medical Examiner, Booth stated.
“This has been an incredibly busy season for us so far for drownings, near drownings, and injuries in many of our popular areas for recreating along our creeks,” Booth stated. On behalf of SFD, Booth said she wants to remind Sedona area residents our visitors to recreate safely.
