Florida Man Killed In Fall Into Christine Falls At Mount Rainier National Park

A Florida man was killed when he fell from the Comet Falls Trail down into Christine Falls at Mount Rainier National Park. Top photo depicts the area where the recovery operation was centered. Bottom shot depicts Christine Falls, with the park road crossing over it and, higher up, the trail bridge. NPS photos.

Rangers at Mount Rainier National Park worked today to recover the body of a Florida man who fell from a cliff above Christine Falls while taking pictures with his son.

About 7:15 p.m. Monday the man, 59-year-old Roger Alan Wagner, of Ocala, Florida, and his son were taking photos near the Comet Falls trail bridge that is above and upstream of the falls when he fell about 40 feet into the raging water below, park officials said this morning.

By the time rangers arrived on scene, it was too dark to safely recover the man's body from the swift, glacier-fed Van Trump Creek, they said. During the night, Mr. Wagner’s body was swept over the 69-foot double falls, coming to rest a hundred yards downstream from the park roadway, officials noted.

The Christine Falls viewpoint was closed to the public during the recovery operation, which was to involve high-angle technical climbing.