ZION NATIONAL PARK — David Vander Meer was charged with murder and insurance fraud by the Washington County Attorney's Office on June 24, 2026. The charges are in connection with the August 22, 2006, death of his wife, Bernadette Vander Meer, at Zion National Park.

U.S. Marshals arrested Vander Meer on Monday, June 23, 2026. Bernadette Vander Meer died after falling approximately 1,200 feet at Zion National Park in Utah.

A probable cause affidavit filed in the Fifth District Court in Washington County stated that an initial lack of evidence and limited investigation led to Bernadette Vander Meer's fall being ruled an accident. The investigation into her death was relaunched in 2025. Richard Gudenkauf, Bernadette Vander Meer's father, stated in an interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he had long suspected her death was not an accident. Gudenkauf said, "I did a lot of hiking with her. She was a mountain goat. For her to fall off a cliff? No."

In 2025, Barry Diamond, a senior pastor of a church where David Vander Meer had worked, informed Washington County Attorney's Office investigators that he believed the death was not an accident and that David Vander Meer had pushed Bernadette. Prior to her death, Vander Meer increased his and his wife's life insurance policies from $150,000 to $600,000. He received a life insurance payout of more than $567,000 in 2007.

David Vander Meer and Bernadette Vander Meer, both 29 years old, were celebrating a wedding anniversary when they hiked Angel's Landing on August 22, 2006. David Vander Meer told investigators that they were wearing headlamps when they reached the summit of Angel's Landing. He stated that he went to set up a camera to take a photo of the sunrise while his wife stood near the edge. David Vander Meer told investigators that he then went to move backpacks out of the shot and, upon turning around, his wife was gone, and he heard her scream as she fell.

He told detectives that he ran through the trail to find someone with better cell service to call 911 after Bernadette fell. Detectives located Bernadette Vander Meer's body hours after her fall at the base of Angel's Landing. A search of the couple's hotel room following the fall found no evidence of violence, and no signs of struggle appeared on items found on Bernadette Vander Meer's body. Following Bernadette Vander Meer's death, a coworker at the New York New York Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas contacted police to express concern about the circumstances. David Vander Meer purchased a $50,000 Cadillac SUV after the couple sold a condominium; the vehicle was stolen months later, and insurance paid off the loan. As of Wednesday, June 25, 2026, David Vander Meer was listed as an inmate at the Clark County Detention Center in Las Vegas.