On Thursday, February 5th, park officials responded to an early morning 911 call from a residential trailer park inside Grand Canyon National Park. At that time the bodies of Laurent “Maverick” Gaudreau, 82, and wife Shirley Gaudreau, 73, were found dead inside their mobile home of an apparent murder suicide. The National Park Service is being supported by the FBI in conducting the investigation and few details are being released at this time.

A former elementary school teacher, Maverick moved to Grand Canyon soon after retirement following a visit to the Canyon and being captivated by its beauty. Maverick was well known to most of the Grand Canyon community. He also achieved a Grand Canyon record, two years ago, when he hiked the Canyon rim-to-rim 106 times in a single year in celebration of his 80th birthday.

I personally never met him, although I had heard of him and his many Canyon trips. I hope this doesn’t sound like a shameless plug, but the first time I had heard his name was while getting a permit at the Backcountry Information Office. Since my book is self-published I will often give a free copy to the ranger who helps me secure a permit, just to help spread the word. Over a year ago the ranger I had given a book to mentioned that Maverick had come in one day, and that he was excited to share a new book he had found. Of course it turned out to be my little book and the ranger went on to explain who Maverick was, and a few details about his life and exploits. Since that time I have looked for him, half expecting to run into him at some point on the trail. I’ll be going in the Canyon next week, I’m pretty sure I’ll still be looking for him, climbing out…hiking on. Both Maverick and Shirley will be missed.

A wonderful article in the Flagstaff newspaper, written by Cyndy Cole can be found at: http://azdailysun.com/articles/2009/02/07/news/20090207_front_190484.txt