DONNA SPANGLER 58, of Durango died April 11 in the Grand Canyon. Services were April 24 in Hiwan Homestead Chapel in Evergreen.
Mrs. Spangler was a fitness instructor at Durango Health Club.
She is survived by her husband, Bob; three sons, Brent Sundling of Sunnyvale, Calif., Brad Sundling of Westminster and Bruce Sundling of Wichita, Kan.; two daughters, Brenee Davies of Chicago and Brenda Gow of Canton, Kan.; her mother, Dorothy Marsh of Hastings, Neb.; and five grandchildren.
Published in the Rocky Mountain News (CO) - April 27, 1993.

Canyon tourist falls to her death
A visitor to the Grand Canyon plunged to her death while preparing to pose for a photograph along the canyon rim.
Donna Spangler, 59, of Durango, Colo., died Sunday, the Coconino County Sheriff's Department said.
The woman's husband told investigators that he turned around to prepare his camera to take her picture and that when he turned back around, she was gone. The man looked over the side and saw his wife's body about 200 feet below, authorities said. Published in the Arizona Republic, 1993. Contributed by Jean Wilson #48841367

Grand Junction, Colo. Not long after Robert Spangler learned he was dying of cancer detectives came knocking at his door or the chance he had something he might want to get off his chest before the end came.
He didn't disappoint them.
Mr. Spangler matter-of-factly admitted killing his family in 1978 and pushing his third wife to her death at the Grand Canyon 15 years later, investigators said. Now Mr. Spangler, 67, is under suspicion for years, sheriff's investigator Paul Goodman said.And some of his former in-law's suspected the worst of him all along. But the alleged confession came as his shock to friends and neighbors, who knew him as an all-around good guy who refereed youth soccer and acted in dinner-theater productions.....Mr. Spangler admitted killing his wife, Nancy Spangler and his 2 children, after saying she apparently shot her 2 children and herself.
Mr. Spangler later remarried and then divorced in 1988, In 1990, Mr. Spangler married Donna Sundling, an aerobics instructor. The couple were visiting the Grand Canyon in 1993 when she fell 200 feet to her death. Mr. Spangler told police he turned away to adjust his camera and when he turned back, she had disappeared.
But relatives said she was afraid of heights and very agile. "The reason it was so suspicious is he had her cremated before her mother even got out there," said cousin Shirley Dixon. Published in The Times Herald. Port Huron, Michigan. 20 Oct, 2000, Fri. Contributed by Jean Wilson #48841367

Murder victim. Pushed to her death in the Grand Canyon by her husband, Robert Spangler.