Woman dies after fall down hillside in Salt Lake County

An 84-year-old woman died Tuesday after falling more than 100 feet down a steep hill behind her home sometime in the last two days.

The woman's home, located near 8700 South and 3200 East, sits on a bluff about 120 feet above the neighborhood below, said Lt. Paul Jaroscak, of the Salt Lake County Sheriff's office. The hill has a 30 percent grade and the terrain is rough, he said. Rescuers had to rappel down the the hill to make the rescue, said Unified Fire Capt. Jay Fearnley.

Family members reported the woman — whose name has not been released — missing after a visit to her home around 3 p.m. Tuesday. She had not been seen since Sunday, police said, and officials are not sure when the woman fell down the hill.

An afternoon snowstorm prevented rescuers from transporting the woman by helicopter, Jaroscak said. Instead, she was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital where she was later pronounced dead.

The woman had cuts and bruises and was hypothermic when rescuers found her Tuesday, Fearnley said.

"Temperatures were in the 30s today," he said. "In winter conditions, it's very easy to get hypothermic within just a few hours. Paramedics did everything they could to warm her."

Police did not know what caused the fall, Jaroscak said.