A body believed to be that of a missing teenage woman was found Wednesday morning in American Fork Canyon.

Crews have been searching the canyon above Tibble Fork Reservoir since Tuesday morning for 19-year-old McKenna Miner from Provo after her family and roommates started to worry and reported her missing Tuesday morning. The search was paused at about 7 p.m. and resumed at about 8 a.m. Wednesday.

Approximately two hours later, search crews found the deceased body of a woman they believe to be Miner, although they will have to wait for the medical examiner to provide ultimate identification.

The Utah County Sheriff’s Office has been in contact with Miner’s family, roommates and friends, and the family has been notified that Miner possibly was found, Sgt. Spencer Cannon said.

The body was found about a mile and a half up Snake Creek Road toward Mineral Basin. As of Wednesday afternoon, crews were working on recovering and transporting the remains to the medical examiner’s office.

According to Cannon, a member of the horseback Mounted Posse was traveling up Snake Creek Road on Wednesday morning when they found Miner’s snow shoes. A law enforcement officer went with them and as they looked around they found footprints in the area and found the body a short distance away.

Cannon said, “Based on the evidence at the scene, we believe it was a suicide.” During the search, Miner’s family made the crews aware that she had been experiencing depression and anxiety, “so we knew that this outcome was a possibility,” he added.

Miner had gone to American Fork Canyon on Sunday. A deputy patrolling the area confirmed seeing her car in the parking lot at Tibble Fork Reservoir around 9 o’clock that night. Her car was also seen in the parking lot Monday night, and on Tuesday morning she was reported missing.

Cannon explained it is not unusual for people to leave their cars there overnight or for several nights, even during the winter, to go hiking, snowshoeing, camping or for other mountain activities. So until she was reported missing, the car being parked there did not raise suspicion, he said.

According to Cannon, the family had started to worry late Monday or early Tuesday that something had happened. Miner had gone up the canyon to go snowshoeing, an activity she had recently started doing. But while she spent a lot of time hiking and being outdoors, she was not yet experienced in snowshoeing, he said. Family reported that she volunteered at Timpanogos Cave National Monument last summer, so she was going up and down that trail several times a day.

Although officials believe it was a suicide, Cannon said as with every death investigation they do, they will be looking at all possibilities until the cause of her death is confirmed. However, he said currently all evidence suggests it was a suicide and there is no evidence to suggest it was anything else or that foul play was involved.

“It’s just sad that somebody who appears to be a vibrant young woman has these kinds of struggles in her mind and feels like this is the only option that she has left,” Cannon said. “We’d really like people to understand that there is always a better option than one taking their own life.”

For those who are struggling with thoughts of suicide, Cannon advised to reach out to a friend or to the National Suicide Crisis Lifeline, which provides free and confidential counseling, by calling or texting 988.

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