On July 19, 2011, Ramina Badal, 21 of Manteca, Ninos Yacoub, 27 of Turlock, and Hormiz David, 22 of Modesto, were witnessed being swept over Vernal Fall, the 317 foot waterfall in Yosemite National Park.
On Monday, park officials reported that a body was recovered in the Merced River, approximately 100 yards below the Vernal Fall footbridge, by a Yosemite National Park Ranger on Tuesday, November 29, 2011, and was in fact positively identified as Ninos Yacoub.
Another body was found in the same general area on Saturday, December 3, 2011, and has been awaiting positive identification.
Yosemite National Park has positively identified the body as that of Ramina Badal. Badal’s body was found in the Merced River, approximately 120 yards below the Vernal Fall footbridge, by a Yosemite National Park Ranger at approximately 1:00pm on Saturday, December 3, 2011. The footbridge is located approximately a half mile below the base of Vernal Fall.
Badal has been missing since July 19, 2011, when she, Hormiz David, and Ninos Yacoub were witnessed being swept over the 317 foot waterfall.
Ramina Badal was the last missing person to be found out of the group of three who plunged from Vernal Fall in July of 2011.
The body of David was found on August 5, 2011, by Yosemite National Park Rangers and Search and Rescue (SAR) personnel approximately 240 feet below the waterfall. The body of Yacoub was found on November 29, 2011, by a Yosemite National Park Ranger approximately 100 yards below the Vernal Fall footbridge near the area where Badal was later located.
Yosemite National Park, along with several other agencies, has been searching for the victims since July. Fluctuating water levels in the Merced River, changing weather conditions, and treacherous terrain contributed to a difficult and challenging search. However, with low water levels in the Merced River and dry weather, Park Rangers have been able to access areas within the river corridor that were previously impossible to search.
