SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – A 65-year-old man from San Diego, California, was found dead in his vehicle in Death Valley National Park on Monday morning, the National Park Service shared.
Just after 10 a.m. on Monday, a National Park Service maintenance worker spotted the man’s vehicle, located 30 yards off the road, according to a NPS press release.
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The park service shared that the worker walked out of the vehicle to check it out, and inside, he found the man unresponsive. He then called the authorities for assistance.
NPS park rangers, the Inyo County Sheriff’s Office, and Inyo County Coroner’s Office all responded to the scene off North Highway, but the man was declared dead at the scene.
The press release noted that extreme heat is believed to be the cause of death.
An investigation discovered that the vehicle’s tracks went along the road shoulder and rocky berm but continuously veered further away from the paved road.
The sedan had two flat tires when it stopped, but authorities shared that it did not crash. Officials also shared that the vehicle was operational and not stuck when it was found. However, the air-conditioning was not working.
“The initial investigation suggests that heat-related illness may have caused the driver to run off road,” the press release shared, noting that the high temperature for that day was 126 degrees Fahrenheit.
The man’s death by heat is the second such instance at a National Park in the last month.
At the end of June, a stepfather and stepson were both found suffering from heat exhaustion at Big Bend National Park in southwest Texas. Temperatures where the pair was hiking reached up to 119 degrees Fahrenheit, and both eventually lost their lives.
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