LAS VEGAS — A Las Vegas police officer fell to his death Monday night while rescuing a hiker who was stranded in a forbidden area of the mountains northwest of the city, authorities said.
Officials said search-and-rescue officer David Vanbuskirk, 36, had attached a harness to the hiker who was stuck on a ledge near Mary Jane Falls on Mount Charleston and had signaled the helicopter above to hoist them both up when he fell.
Vanbuskirk had been with the department since 1999, officer Bill Cassell said.
KLAS-TV reported the hiker reached the helicopter and was not injured.
TV cameras captured a procession of police cars driving through the dark with their lights on after the accident in a gesture of respect for the fallen officer.
In another hiking-related death, a woman succumbed to the heat Monday while visiting The Wave, a flowing sandstone rock formation near the Utah-Arizona border that claimed the lives of a California couple earlier this month.
Elisabeth Ann Bervel, 27, of Mesa, Ariz., died of cardiac arrest when a medical helicopter arrived too late to save her, authorities said.
Bervel was celebrating her fifth wedding anniversary with her husband, Anthony, when they lost their way on a 3-mile, unmarked route back to a trailhead, forcing them to spend extra hours under blazing sun in 90-degree temperatures and humidity.
The Wave is a richly colored geological upheaval, its fiery swirls emblazoned on postcards, posters, maps, and computer screensavers. It is said to be one of the most photographed spots in North America.
More than 48,000 people applied last year for 7,300 available hiking permits, to visit The Wave, officials said.