Utah teen dies in Arizona Strip fall

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Sheriff's deputies in Arizona's Mohave County are investigating the death of a Utah teenage hiker in the Cane Beds area of the Arizona Strip.

Sheriff's spokeswoman Trish Carter said on Tuesday that the body of Rulon Jessop, 16, of St. George, had been turned over to the Mohave County Medical Examiner's Office for an autopsy to determine an official cause of death.

However, initial indications are that the youth had died from injuries sustained in a fall late Sunday morning.

Carter said the boy's body was located and recovered by Colorado City firefighters early Sunday afternoon.

The victim was camping in the area with his uncles and his younger brother last weekend when the fall occurred.

"They were climbing on the face of a rock to reach a cave when Rulon slipped and fell approximately 100 feet to the rock's bottom," Carter said.

remims@sltrib.com

Twitter: @remims