35 year-old James Hall and 34 year-old Monica Ledesma, a California couple who had gone missing while hiking in the wilds of the Sierra Nevada, have been found. Their bodies were located by officials of the Madera County Sheriff’s Office near Yosemite’s Angel Falls.
Their deaths, according to family members, appear to have been the result of a failed rescue attempt. Ledesma appears to have gotten stuck in dangerous waters near the falls, and Hall attempted to affect a rescue. Both individuals subsequently met their deaths in the treacherous waters. James Hall, according to the GoFundMe page posted by his family to raise money for his funeral, died a hero.
Their bodies were located following a call made to police reporting a woman’s body bobbing about in the water. Ledesma was identified and pronounced dead at the scene by rescuers. Rescue workers noticed that personal items at the scene indicated the presence of another individual, and they surmised that their might be a second person missing. They launched a new search in earnest.
United States Forest Service teams, Search and Rescue teams, officials of the Madera County and CALFire services, a California Highway Patrol H-40 helicopter, and Sierra Ambulance service werea ll called to the scene. There they were informed that the discovered items indicated that there was a missing adult male, and all parties were immediately set forth to locate and retrieve the missing man.
Not long after, James Hall’s body was recovered from the water.
Monica Ledesma is survived by two young children.
Families and friends held vigil for the couple at the Chukchansi Pow Wow grounds on Friday the 21st of June. One friend, Nancy O’Hara, told KFSN news that both James and Monica were exceptionally kind people who helped look after the elderly and the children in their community, and they shared a delightful sense of humor.
Officials are urging hikers to exercise extreme caution when hiking near water.
