Ioana Hociota, Grand Canyon Bride, Killed In 300-Foot Fall

The storybook romance of an Arizona couple who was wed at the Grand Canyon recently ended in tragedy, when the gorge -- one of the seven natural wonders of the world -- claimed one of their lives.

According to the National Park Service, Ioana Hociota, 24, of Tempe, was hiking with friend Matthia Kawski near the South Rim of the Grand Canyon on Feb. 25, when she suddenly cried out.


"The blood froze in my veins," Kawski told KPBS. "It was a few seconds later that I heard a dull thump. I ran back to the saddle calling for her. There was incredible silence."

Hociota had apparently lost her footing while trekking up an unmarked trail and fell about 300 feet to a rock ledge below.

"She was a good hiker, not careless, not reckless," Hociota's husband, Andrew Holycross, told The Republic.

"She didn't take chances. She was on a path I would have taken."
  
PHOTO OF IOANA HOCIOTA