Calif. teen dies after falling into Sequoia National Park river

A 17-year-old girl drowned in Sequoia National Park on Friday during a hike with her family and friends, according to the Tulare County Coroner’s Office.

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Andrea Michelle Diaz Mondragon, a Santa Maria resident, was hiking with her older brother and friends when she slipped into a fast-moving river. Despite a rescue attempt by her sibling and a friend, Mondragon couldn’t be reached until first responders pulled her out of the water. She later died at a local hospital. 

Mondragon was about to start her senior year of high school in August, according to a GoFundMe posted by a family friend. The fundraiser, which has raised more than $7,000, noted that she was passionate about helping others and aspired to be a nurse.

“Above all, Andrea deeply loved her family. She cherished her mother, father, and two older brothers, and was always there for her younger sister, whom she loved and protected,” the fundraiser reads. “Her beautiful spirit touched countless lives, and her loss has left her family, friends, and classmates heartbroken.” 

The Instagram page for the Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks warned the public on June 10 to stay back from the river’s edge due to the dangerously fast currents and precarious rocky edges. Just last month, a couple drowned after a woman slipped into water while photographing the Roaring River Falls, with her husband attempting to rescue her, according to reports from the National Park Service.

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The U.S. Department of the Interior, which oversees the National Park Service, has not commented on Friday’s death. The Washington Post reported Wednesday that an internal memo circulated among staff in December directed Park Service employees to no longer confirm to members of the media or public when people die in national parks. Mondragon is the eighth person to die by drowning in Tulare County this year, according to the Tulare County Coroner’s Office.