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Police identify man who died after long fall in the Lone Peak Area

Posted at 7:44 PM, Jun 17, 2017
and last updated 2017-06-17 21:44:43-04

SANDY, Utah -- Unified Police have identified a man they say died after falling hundreds of feet while trail running in the Lone Peak area.

He's 39 year old Zachery Zimmerman of Lehi.

It's a busy Father Day's weekend, and his death is a solemn reminder of the dangers lurking in Utah's outdoors.

"We're going for a hike up Bell Canyon," said Bryant Regehr. "We're going to go to the lake I think," Stephanie Regehr added.

Bell Canyon hikers noticed something wasn't right Saturday morning.

"Kids all saw the helicopter going up and they said, 'that's a bad sign,'" James Scott Stevens said.

Sadly, it was a spot-on observation. Down the street, a search and rescue team set up for what started as a report of a fall.

Zimmerman was trail running with a friend when he fell from the cliff.

"A witness who was hiking with his friend stated his friend fell approximately 500 feet," Unified Police Department Lt. Brian Lohrke said.

It quickly became a recovery operation.

Unified Police said the man was about a 3 to 4 hour hike up from the Bell Canyon trailhead in steep, rocky terrain.

"Big Horn Peak which is very high up from our maps estimated 10,500 to 11,000 feet in that area," Lt. Lohrke said.

It's a tragic reminder of a message Unified Police said they can't reiterate enough.

"Take the proper precautions to keep yourself safe," Lt. Lohrke said.