Man Found Dead After Running Out of Gas in California's Death Valley National Park During Heat Wave

■ Man Found Dead After Running Out of Gas in California's Death Valley National Park During Heat Wave (msn.com)

 

 

 

Man Found Dead After Running Out of Gas in California's Death Valley National Park During Heat Wave

Maria Pasquini

 

© Provided by People

 

A California man was found dead in Death Valley National Park as a heat wave caused record temperatures in the area. 

Park visitors found the body of David Kelleher, 67, on Tuesday, the National Park Service wrote in a news release. Officials said that it appeared the Huntington Beach man was walking toward Furnace Creek from where his car was parked "after running out of gas." 

 

 

The search for Kelleher began days after a park ranger first noticed a vehicle in the Zabriskie Point parking lot on the morning of June 8, officials wrote.

"On the evening of June 11, the same park ranger saw only one vehicle in the parking lot and remembered it from three days earlier," officials wrote, noting that at the time, temperatures reached as high as 123 degrees Fahrenheit.

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After learning who the vehicle was registered to, park rangers launched an investigation. Although they determined that Kelleher had not been reported missing, a records search showed that he had been cited for off-road driving by a park ranger on May 30. 

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Officials said they found a "crumbled note" that read "out of gas" in Kelleher's vehicle.

"Kelleher had also mentioned being low on gas when contacted by a park ranger May 30 near Dantes View Road," they wrote.  

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Although the park's search efforts were "limited by hot weather," his body was found by park visitors around 2 p.m. on Tuesday. 

"Kelleher was about 2 ½ miles from their vehicle, but only about 30 feet from California Highway 190, obscured by terrain and a mesquite tree," park officials wrote. 

This marks the park's second recent fatality, officials wrote in the news release. John McCarry, 69, was found dead in Panamint Valley on June 1, while the search for Peter Harootunian — which began on May 23 — is still ongoing.  

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Officials advised that "in extreme heat, people should wait at a broken vehicle, rather than attempting to walk for assistance." 

Listing their own safety precautions, NPS said that they encourage all visitors to not hike "at low elevations after 10 am, staying within a short walk of air conditioning, drinking plenty of water, and eating salty snacks." 

Read the original article on People