A Slip on Wet Rocks Costs Tourist Her Life at Glacier

A 26-year-old tourist drowned after falling into a waterway at Montana's Glacier National Park. The Daily Montanan reports Gillian Tones of North Apollo, Pennsylvania, fell into Virginia Creek on Sunday afternoon, was carried over a number of waterfalls, and drowned in the water below, according to park officials. A press release from the National Park Service cites witnesses who said Tones slipped on wet, slick rocks and "was quickly swept up by the cold, fast moving water" between St. Mary and Virginia Falls.

After going over the falls she was "pinned underwater by a log for several minutes until heroic efforts by other park visitors led to pulling her from the river," per the press release. A number of 911 calls were made at 5:20pm and park rangers were on the scene within 25 minutes. Resuscitation efforts by bystanders, park rangers, ambulance personnel, and ALERT helicopter medics who later arrived failed to revive Tones. The Montanan reports drowning, natural causes, and falls are the top three causes of death at Glacier. (More Glacier National Park stories.)