This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2010, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
As National Park Service rangers, Laurie Axelsen and Brent McGinn pulled people out of lake water, carried them off mountainsides and investigated everything from drunk driving to cactus theft.
They were enjoying the outdoors for themselves Friday when they took Axelsen's small airplane and went scouting for elk. But something went wrong. The plane crashed on a mountain northeast of Panguitch, killing both rangers.
Kym Hall, acting superintendant at Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, where both rangers worked, said the pair favored pamphlets and warnings over handcuffs. They tried to inform visitors to Glen Canyon about dangers like carbon monoxide spewed from boats, how the sun can burn and drain hikers and why people shouldn't disturb plant life in the park.
"It was really about trying to educate people about how to get into a park, take care of themselves and come out OK," Hall said. "It was kind of ironic that they both lost their lives in the outdoors."
There was no indication Saturday from local law enforcement or federal aviation officials what caused the plane crash. The pair, who both lived in Page, Ariz., were aboard a Cessna 172, a four-seat, single-engine, high-wing plane, having told friends they intended to fly from Bryce Canyon National Park airstrip to the area of Mount Dutton.
Park Service spokeswoman Michelle Fidler said the two were on a scouting trip Friday for an upcoming elk hunt when their plane was reported overdue early Saturday. Searchers from Garfield and Kane counties found their bodies about 9 a.m. Saturday. The Garfield County Sheriff's Office reported the crash site was about 18 miles northeast of Panguitch.
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area straddles Utah and Arizona and includes Lake Powell. Axelsen worked as a Dangling Rope District law enforcement ranger. McGinn, 49, was chief of law enforcement at Glen Canyon. He had previously worked at Zion and Bryce Canyon national parks.
Cheston Slater, a Utah State Parks ranger assigned to Bullfrog Marina, called McGinn "a physical fitness nut" who prided himself on being able to run and lift more than other rangers.
"I remember being in the weight room one day and Brent, he's twice my age, I looked over and Brent had the biggest barbell you can have in each hand and did a bench press," Slater said.
McGinn encouraged other rangers to keep in shape, too, Slater said, and told them it may one day save their lives in a place like Glen Canyon where rangers may have to swim or hike on any given day.
Law enforcement jurisdiction in Glen Canyon is shared by local, state and federal agencies. Slater said McGinn always was willing to help state rangers like him enforce Utah laws like those for hunting and fishing.
"He worked for National Park Service, but at the same time, he understood the importance of working with other agencies, and his resources were always at our disposal," Slater said.
Brian Sweatland, a former ranger at Glen Canyon, remembers McGinn as a gregarious figure who "just always had a smile on his face."
Axelsen was more serious. Sweatland, who used to be the park's spokesman and would have to relay information to reporters, remembers calling Axelsen after accidents on the water or in Glen Canyon's red rock terrain.
"You would have someone who was deceased and a thousand questions from people about how it happened," Sweatland said, "and Laurie was just so calm."
Online database Lexus Nexus indicated Axelsen was 41 years old, though the National Park Service did not confirm that Saturday.
There was no information about funeral services for either ranger on Saturday.