In the summer of 2017, a search was prompted by a concerning text message, leading authorities to the scenic yet rugged landscape of Walnut Canyon National Monument near Flagstaff, Arizona. A friend of Christopher Preston, a 49-year-old male from Santa Fe, New Mexico, received a distressing message suggesting he could be found in a canyon east of the city.
This initiated a response from the Coconino County Sheriff's Office, whose deputies, along with National Park Service rangers, began a search for the man.
The search efforts were extensive, including the use of an Arizona Department of Public Safety helicopter to survey the vast and challenging terrain of the national monument. The focus of their search was the area around the Island Trail, a popular path that winds through the canyon's dramatic geological formations and ancient cliff dwellings. It was a short distance from this trail that the search party made a grim discovery.
Christopher Preston was found deceased, having sustained what authorities described as an apparent gunshot wound. The initial assessment from the Coconino County Sheriff's officials on the scene indicated that the death was likely a suicide. While the circumstances pointed towards a self-inflicted act, the official determination of the cause of death was left to the county Medical Examiner's Office. There were no reports of any arrests or suspects in connection with this incident.
