Park Rangers from Grand Canyon National Park are searching for a 19 year-old woman who was last seen near Hermit Rapid along the Colorado River around 6:00pm on Sunday, July 16, 2006. The woman, identified as Iryna Shylo, a Grand Canyon resident, was on an overnight hike in the inner canyon with a hiking partner when she disappeared. Ms. Shylo’s hiking partner indicated she went down river to go to the bathroom and failed to return. Her hiking partner reported her missing to Backcountry Rangers early this morning.
Ms. Shylo is a 19 year-old, white female. She is 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighs 120 pounds. She has black hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing blue jean denim cut-off shorts, a blue, green and white flowered bikini style top and white tennis shoes.
Ms. Shylo had hiked into the Canyon on Sunday, July 16, on the Hermit Trail with a male in his early 50’s. They had planned on spending the night and hiking out the following day.
Today’s search efforts consisted of an aerial and ground search of the area where Ms. Syhlo was last seen. Park rangers have also interviewed her hiking partner and other trail users that were in the area. Park rangers will be inserted into the search area late tonight and will continue their search efforts early in the morning. A scent dog team is being contacted for possible deployment to the Hermit Rapid area in the morning as well.
Park Rangers have distributed a missing person’s flyer [contact RRFW for copy with Ms. Shylo’s photo] and are asking for assistance in locating Ms. Shylo. If you have any information regarding this individual, please contact the National Park Service at (928) 638-7805.
This is the 2nd female hiker to have gone missing in the past 5 weeks. The body of Tomomi Hanamure of Tokyo, Japan, was found May 13th in Havasu Canyon. The Coconino County Sheriff’s Office is investigating her death as a homicide.