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Date: June 18, 2006
Contact: Nash, (307) 344-2010
Contact: Vallie, (307) 344-2012

Authorities have released the identity of the woman who slipped and fell to her death in Yellowstone National Park Saturday morning.

52-year old Deborah Chamberlin was from Rockford, Michigan. Chamberlain was traveling in the park with her husband and two children. They had stopped their vehicle at a pullout along the Grand Loop Road just north of the Tower Fall area about 10 o’clock Saturday morning. Chamberlain stepped over a small rock retaining wall to take a photograph and lost her footing. She slid down an embankment and then over a 500-foot cliff, coming to rest on the floor of the canyon near the Yellowstone River.

Rangers responded to the scene after receiving a 911 call from a motorist flagged down by the victim’s husband. High, fast water on the Yellowstone River made an over-water rescue attempt impossible. A ranger with climbing skills rappelled down the cliff face to reach the victim. Chamberlin was declared dead at the scene. Her body was removed by helicopter by 4 o’clock Saturday afternoon.

This is the second fatal accident in Yellowstone National Park this year and the first of the summer season. A snowmobile accident in late February claimed the life of a woman from Mountain Home, Idaho.