Officials shut down part of a Washington state national park while emergency crews work to recover the body of a man they say may have fallenover a waterfall. The National Park Service (NPS) closed the Sol Duc Falls area for the Olympic National Park Search and Rescue Team after an 18-year-old man fell over the 50-foot waterfall, the agency wrote in a news release. The park is in the Olympic Peninsula about124 miles northwest of Seattle. The fall remained under investigation June 12, but according to witnesses, a man − who officials did not identify − was walking across rocks at the top of the falls June 8 "when he slipped, resurfaced at the bottom of the waterfall, then submerged into the water again. " The next day, on June 9, a park ranger found "a completely submerged body pinned between the first and second falls," NPS wrote. "It is likely that this is the visitor who fell over the falls the day before. " After that, the park's swift water and rope rescue teams began a search and evaluated rescue options in a narrow canyon − a constriction point beneath the main falls. A ground team searched the riverbanks upstream from the trailhead, officials wrote, and thermal imaging was used to search the river. As of June 12, the search was dubbed a recovery effort with teams considering challenges including: Rapid snowmelt from high temperatures which caused significantly high river flows; The speed and force of the water; A second waterfall and whirlpool downstream from the body; Vertical, 50-foot cliffs covered in algae and moss "flanking both sides of the target area." The team said it would begin the operation as soon as river conditions allow for a safe and successful recovery. People were being asked to avoid the area. USA TODAY has reached out to NPS on June 12 for an update. Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X @nataliealund This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Crews work to recover teen's body from river in national park
