GRAND CANYON VILLAGE, AZ — Search crews in Grand Canyon National Park are still looking for Wyoming hiker Timothy Smith, who has been missing since a flash flood tore through Bright Angel Canyon and the Phantom Ranch area on Aug. 29. Eleven days after the flood, Smith remained the only person unaccounted for as crews worked along the canyon and the Colorado River.
Wednesday carried an especially painful meaning for Smith’s family because it was his birthday. His wife, Carrie Smith, said in a Tuesday night Facebook post that the family had expected to be celebrating instead of waiting for news. The National Park Service said its teams and partners remain committed to the search even as they also work to repair flood damage across the canyon.
Search crews focus on Phantom Ranch and the Colorado River
The National Park Service said searchers are concentrating on the delta area near Phantom Ranch while river patrol crews check downstream sections of the Colorado River and nearby areas where debris may have been carried. The effort has continued since the flood swept through the canyon and killed two of Smith’s longtime friends, John Giusti and Brent Rosenkranz.
Smith, 53, was hiking with Giusti and Rosenkranz when heavy rain triggered the flood. The three men had ties to Granbury, Texas, and were traveling together in the canyon. Giusti and Rosenkranz were killed, while Smith has not been found. Park officials have not said whether they believe he could still be in the canyon, but the search has remained active.
Family and church communities hold prayer services
More than 1,000 miles away, the church Smith and his family once attended in Texas gathered Sunday to pray for him and for the families of Giusti and Rosenkranz. Lakeside Baptist Church in Granbury held a special prayer time for the missing hiker and the men who died in the flood.
Senior Pastor Mark Forrest said he knew Smith personally from the years the family lived in Granbury. He described Smith as a steady family man who served in the church. Forrest said the congregation was also wrestling with the larger question of why tragedies like this happen, adding that faith helps people endure suffering even when it does not remove it.
Carrie Smith says the waiting has become unbearable
Carrie Smith has been posting public updates about the family’s waiting on her personal Facebook page. In one message, she thanked search-and-rescue teams for working long, hot days to find her husband and said their efforts and compassion have meant a great deal to the family.
She wrote that the last several days have been the hardest her family has ever faced, describing a repeated pattern of hearing the same answer each day: no new information. Still, she said the family has not given up hope and asked others to pray for the searchers, the workers keeping watch in the canyon, and the families of Giusti and Rosenkranz. She added that faith is helping her children understand the absence, writing that “Daddy isn’t home.”
Flood damage has forced major repairs across the park
While the search continues, park crews are also dealing with major infrastructure damage from the flood. The National Park Service said about 40% of the old Transcanyon Waterline between the Phantom Ranch area and the North Rim was damaged. The flood also heavily damaged the Bright Angel Creek and Roaring Springs intake areas and destroyed the water intake at Bright Angel Creek.
Crews are building a temporary intake system while removing debris, stabilizing damaged areas and trying to restore dependable water service. The temporary setup is expected to pump about 500 gallons per minute, but the park says full restoration will take weeks. Electricity needed for the work has already been restored, and crews are preparing the site for construction.
South Rim conservation measures remain in place
The South Rim is still relying on stored water, which has led park officials to impose strict conservation measures. The park says those measures are saving about 137,000 gallons of potable water each day. To support visitors and staff, officials are deploying potable-water tanks, bottled water, handwashing stations, portable showers, laundry facilities and portable toilets.
Grand Canyon National Park remains open on both rims, but closures and modified operations are still affecting parts of the inner canyon. As repair work continues, search teams are also keeping up the hunt for Smith on a day that was supposed to be a family celebration instead.
A birthday marked by hope, grief and uncertainty
Smith’s disappearance has become the final unresolved piece of a deadly flood that changed the canyon in a matter of hours. His friends were killed, infrastructure was damaged and visitors and crews are still adapting to the aftermath. For the family, though, the central question remains whether he can be found.
That uncertainty has shaped every day since the flood, with the family leaning on prayer, church support and the work of searchers. The park service says the search will continue alongside the recovery effort, leaving Smith’s relatives to wait through another milestone that would otherwise have been spent with him.
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