Reports of Grand Canyon maintenance worker secretly recording visitors prompts investigation

Stock Image | Grand Canyon National Park stock image | St George News

ST. GEORGE — National Park Service special agents with the Investigative Services Branch are working to identify potential female victims of surreptitious recordings taken in bathroom facilities in the backcountry of Grand Canyon National Park.

This 2010 National Park Service file photo shows the Bright Angel Campground, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, March 25, 2010 | Photo by Michael Quinn courtesy of National Park Service, St. George News

According to a press release issued Wednesday by the Department of the Interior, in September 2020, park visitors at Phantom Ranch reported that they believed a maintenance worker had recorded them while using a toilet. The individual was subsequently fired and removed from the park. 

For the past year, agents have been working to identify the scope of the suspect’s activity. At this time, there is no indication that these images were shared or distributed by the suspect, the news release states.

This remains an active and open criminal matter. At the same time, the Department is conducting an internal review.

If you or someone you know used the toilets at Indian Garden along the Bright Angel Trail on the north side of Phantom Ranch or at the Bright Angel Campground, between November 2018 and September 2020, you are encouraged to reach out to investigators by calling 928-318-8770 or by filling out a secure and confidential online form on the FBI’s National Park Service webpage to determine if you may be a victim.

Victims may be eligible for certain services and rights under federal and/or state law.

The National Park Service is dedicated to ensuring every victim of or witness to a crime that occurs in a national park is treated with dignity and respect, that they are informed of their legal rights and provided with the support and services to which they are entitled, the release states.

To support the victims of these incidents, the park service has partnered with the FBI Victim Services Division to connect victims with available services.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2021, all rights reserved.

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