A 75-year-old Kingman man was found dead after his utility terrain vehicle left a trail and rolled down a ravine in the Hualapai Mountains, according to a Mohave County Sheriff’s Office news release.
The driver was identified as John Emory Shuttz, according to Anita Mortensen with the Sheriff’s Office.
Search and rescue personnel used a rope system to reach the UTV because of the steep, rugged terrain, Mortensen said.
The Hualapai Mountains are southeast of Kingman in northwestern Arizona.
Shuttz was the vehicle’s only occupant, according to an Oct. 27 Facebook post by the Sheriff’s Office’s search and rescue team. The team described the crash location as south of Soap Canyon.
Alongside Mohave County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue personnel and Mohave Park rangers, deputies responded about 2 p.m. Oct. 23 to reports of a UTV that had gone off a trail and about 200 feet down the mountainside, according to Mortensen.
People are also reading…
Search and rescue personnel work with ropes along a rocky ledge in the Hualapai Mountains Oct. 23, during the recovery effort for a fatal UTV crash south of Soap Canyon.
Personnel from Pine Lake Fire also responded, according to the search and rescue team’s post. The Sheriff’s Office received the call for help just before 2 p.m., the post said.
Shuttz was traveling with a group of UTVs on a narrow, rocky trail from Soap Canyon toward Hualapai Mountain County Park when his vehicle left the trail and rolled down a ravine, Mortensen said.
Search and rescue rope technicians established the system needed to reach the vehicle. They located the UTV and found Shuttz dead, according to Mortensen.
Search and rescue personnel recovered his body and brought it to the command post. His body was then taken to the Mohave County Medical Examiner’s Office, Mortensen said.
Mortensen did not specify why the vehicle left the trail, the exact crash location or when the crash occurred.
There were no other reports of injuries.
