New information contradicts the Phoenix officer’s testimony after the Camelback hiker’s death

PHOENIX – The Phoenix officer who went hiking with a woman found dead on Camelback Mountain last week told detectives that he also got lost after parting halfway up the climb and being unfamiliar with the trail said a city spokesman.

Officer Dario Dizdar’s official statements to investigators contradict initial reports by fire fighters on site and an incident report from a park ranger who spoke to him on the mountain.

While searching for Angela Tramonte, a fire department spokesman said Dizdar told the crews that he was very familiar with this mountain and that he was hiking it from top to bottom all the time at this time of day.

Fire officials this week urged ABC15 to stop using this statement as they said they misunderstood Dizdar at the time.

But a Phoenix park ranger also claimed that Dizdar told him he hiked camelback a lot.

“They started walking together around 10am, without water, but separated. The friend stated that he was a local and did this hike the whole time and she would go as far as possible and turn around, ”said an incident report from the park attendant.

A Phoenix police spokesman said her department did not know what specific questions were being asked by fire and park personnel.

But during his subsequent interview with detectives, Dizdar reported that he was hiking the Echo Canyon Trail for the first time. He also said he got lost and needed to take an Uber back to the trail parking lot.

Dizdar is not considered a suspect by his department. The police spokesman said he was cooperating and there was no evidence of foul play.

Tramonte is from the Boston area and flew to Phoenix to meet Dizdar for the first time. The two had talked online.

She died less than 24 hours after her trip.

Outside Phoenix Police Headquarters Thursday, following a press conference on the DOJ’s extensive investigation into the division, an ABC15 intelligence team spotted Dizdar entering the building.

He told ABC15’s Zach Crenshaw that the coverage of him was wrong. But Dizdar declined to elaborate on it.

Crenshaw did not get a chance to solicit further comments from Dizdar as he did not leave the same way he had entered.

Police officers took Dizdar’s car keys and removed his parked vehicle from the front of the building.

The park attendant’s incident report also reveals new information about how Tramonte’s body was discovered.

The two separated on the hike around 10:30 a.m. Her body was not found until 4:37 p.m.

Firefighters and police officers tried to ping their cell phones. However, the area has not been sufficiently narrowed down. Firefighters could then have a friend of Tramonte use an iPhone application to get a more accurate ping.

Since the narrowed area revealed a remote area, police officers went door to door in one neighborhood and finally found her in a back yard.

The full Phoenix Police Department response to questions related to this report is provided below.

“Information initially published is information that was known at the time. I would also like to point out that there are different trails within Camelback Mountain and we do not know what specific questions were asked by fire and park personnel before our detective spoke to the witness. The conversation between the witness and our detective was recorded. This interview shows that the witness reported that he was hiking the Echo Canyon Trail for the first time. This is still an ongoing death investigation with no evidence of foul play. The witness continues to cooperate and has provided all information to our investigators. Some of the information provided includes cell phone information.

During a preliminary investigation of the phone, investigators saw photos of the summit of Camelback Mountain that were taken that day and evidence of a ride for the witness when he got lost.

Contact ABC15 investigator Dave Biscobing at [email protected].