US News3 min(s) read
Published 16:40 25 Jul 2024 GMT
US News3 min(s) read
Published 16:40 25 Jul 2024 GMT
us3 min(s) read
Published 17:46 15 Jul 2024 GMT
A Wisconsin father and daughter have tragically died during a hike amid scorching temperates in Utah, with reports saying the pair ran out of water.
The heartbreaking incident unfolded in southeastern Utah as a father and daughter from Green Bay, Wisconsin, lost their lives while hiking in Canyonlands National Park.
The 23-year-old woman and her 52-year-old father died after reportedly getting lost and running out of water temperatures exceeding 100°F.
Their peril started to unfold on Friday afternoon (July 12), when a distressing 911 text was received by San Juan County Dispatch from the Island in the Sky district of Canyonlands National Park.
Promptly, both National Park Service rangers and Bureau of Land Management Moab District Helitack personnel initiated a search operation. However, by the time they located the father and daughter, it was sadly too late.
"The hikers were found deceased due to what appeared to be dehydration and heat exhaustion," revealed a spokesperson for the National Park Service, per CBS News.
The names of the victims have not been released pending notification of their families.
The terrain they were navigating, the Syncline Trail, known for its "strenuous" difficulty level, involves "navigating steep switchbacks, climbing and scrambling through boulder fields where trail markers are few and far apart".
Canyonlands National Park, like much of the region, has been grappling with an intense heatwave, setting records and prompting warnings from the National Weather Service about heat-related illnesses.
"While temperatures remain high this summer, park visitors are advised to carry and drink plenty of water and avoid strenuous activity during midday heat," emphasized the National Park Service.
Authorities continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident, working in conjunction with the San Juan County Sheriff's Office to gather more information.
This incident is part of a broader trend of heat-related fatalities across the United States during the ongoing summer heatwaves.
Just days before the tragedy in Utah, temperatures soaring above 100°F led to a fatal incident in California's Death Valley, where a motorcyclist succumbed to heat exposure as the temperature soared to a staggering 128°F.
Additionally, a nine-year-old boy tragically died earlier this month after collapsing during a family hike in the Arizona desert.
According to officials, the heartbreaking incident took place on Tuesday (July 2) after Cortinez Logan went on a trail walk with his family at the South Mountain Park and Preserve near Phoenix.
As temperatures soared into the triple figures, Cortinez went "in and out of consciousness," while being administered CPR and was airlifted to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead.
us3 min(s) read
Published 14:40 26 Jun 2023 GMT
A father and his teenage stepson from Florida were found dead in separate areas of a Texas national park on Friday.
The fatalities occurred during a family hike in the harsh heat, leading to the 14-year-old boy collapsing, according to officials.
The family, which included the stepfather and the 21-year-old brother of the teenager, was trekking along the Marufo Vega Trail at Big Bend National Park under blistering temperatures. On the day in question, temperatures in the area reached a staggering high of 119 degrees, reports NBC DFW.
The teenager fell ill and lost consciousness around 6:00PM, which prompted the father to rush back to their vehicle to seek assistance while the elder brother attempted to carry his unconscious sibling back to the trailhead.
Around 7:30PM, authorities located the unconscious boy and his brother. Unfortunately, the teenager was declared dead at the scene, as stated by the National Park Service.
A mere half an hour later, the father's car was spotted by Park Rangers and US Border Patrol Agents. The vehicle had crashed over the embankment at the Boquillas Overlook. The 31-year-old father was also pronounced dead at the scene.
The Marufo Vega Trail, known for its rugged desert and rocky cliffs, is positioned within the hottest part of Big Bend National Park. The challenging trail, lacking in shade or water, poses considerable risk when traversed in the summer heat, warned the agency in a statement.
The National Park Service said: "A team of Park Rangers and U.S. Border Patrol Agents reached the scene at approximately 7:30PM and located the young victim deceased along the trail. A search was then initiated for the father. At approximately 8:00PM, his vehicle was located crashed over the embankment at the Boquillas Overlook. The 31-year-old male was pronounced deceased at the scene of the crash."
The statement continued: "The Marufo Vega Trail winds through extremely rugged desert and rocky cliffs within the hottest part of Big Bend National Park. No shade or water makes this strenuous trail dangerous to attempt in the heat of summer.
"Big Bend is currently experiencing extreme heat with daily highs reaching 110-119 F at low elevations and along the Rio Grande."
The names of the victims have not been released by park officials, and the incident is currently under investigation.
news2 min(s) read
Published 10:47 19 Apr 2024 GMT
Tragedy struck earlier this week on the rugged terrain of Bear Mountain, Arizona, as California mom Zaynab Joseph sadly died during a family hike.
The 40-year-old mother plunged 140 feet to her death while trekking with her husband and baby on Monday, as concerned witnesses followed her harrowing cries for help.
Rescue efforts were swift but sadly, Joseph succumbed to her injuries shortly after being discovered by fellow hikers, according to the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office.
One of the hikers immediately went down the embankment where Joseph was still breathing at the time.
While her husband and child were airlifted to safety, the heartbreaking loss of Joseph has left a community reeling with grief.
The Joseph family, visiting from California, had been enjoying a getaway in Sedona, lodging at an Airbnb. As authorities investigate the circumstances surrounding the tragic incident, loved ones are left grappling with the incomprehensible loss.
In a poignant tribute, a woman identifying herself as the victim's sister shared heartfelt words, describing Joseph as having "a heart of gold."
“No words can describe the pain our families are going through, especially her husband and three young children,” Farwa Zaidi wrote in a Facebook post.
Leila Hassan shared on Facebook that Joseph was “a friend and a sister of my Islamic community.”
“The community is in shock,” she wrote. “Please keep her family in your prayers to get through this tough time.”
With the investigation ongoing, questions linger about the exact circumstances leading to Joseph's fatal fall on what's described as a challenging hike through the untamed wilderness of Bear Mountain.
Bear Mountain has been described by the US Forest Service as a “strenuous hike” because “it’s mostly unshaded, steep and difficult in places.”
The trail in Sedona, listed as "hard" on the AllTrails hiking app, presents a challenge with its approximately 2,000 feet of elevation gain over just over two miles to reach the peak.
Described as rugged by the site, the trail features sections where hikers traverse pure rock with an almost vertical drop, prompting the recommendation to wear shoes with excellent traction.
"It's a rugged trail," the AllTrails site says. "Some sections are on pure rock at an almost vertical drop. Wear shoes with good traction!"
Recent hikers share experiences of rock scrambling and encountering "quite steep" conditions along the trail.
us2 min(s) read
Published 10:59 20 Feb 2022 GMT
The very last text message and several attempted phone calls ended up being one family's final desperate plea for help, per the Independent.
Ultimately, the family - a mother, father, their baby, and their dog ended up mysteriously dying in California's Sierra National Forest during a hiking trip last year.
Father Jonathan Gerrish, mother Ellen Chung, their one-year-old daughter, Miju, and their pet, Oski, were found dead last year in August near the Merced River south of Yosemite National Park.
According to the Mariposa County Sheriff's Office, a text message supported the official cause of death — hyperthermia and possible dehydration amid extremely high temperatures, per The Fresno Bee.
At the time, authorities also emphasized the potential impact of toxic algae in a nearby stream - however, they eventually ruled that out as a cause of death.
“Can you help us,” the text message begins, with the recipient's name redacted by authorities. “On savage lundy trail heading back to Hites cove trail. No water or ver (over) heating with baby.”
The message never went out due to the lack of cellphone service in the remote forest area.
There were also several attempted phone calls to multiple numbers in just 25 minutes the day the family died. However, none of the calls was to emergency services. The mother and father also took a screenshot of their location from a trail app.
Investigators used the data from the phone to re-create the path and timeline of the family's hike based on their GPS locations.
Multiple sightseeing photos taken that day documented the family's hike before they found themselves in desperate need for help just a couple of hours after their hike began, police said.
The material released by authorities at a press conference on Thursday marked the end of an investigation into the tragic deaths that initially had investigators bewildered.
Last year, a family friend by the name of Sidney Radanovich described the couple as keen hikers.
“They were such a loving couple,” Radanovich told the San Francisco Chronicle. He said Gerrish, a San Francisco-based software designer, adored showing Miju “all sorts of things and explain them to her.”
us3 min(s) read
Published 15:04 08 Jun 2025 GMT
A family has revealed their heartbreak after a dad and his daughter were tragically found dead after going on a hike.
Tim Keiderling, 58, and his daughter Esther, 28, of Ulster Park, N.Y., were discovered just 1,000 feet apart on the Tablelands area of Mount Katahdin in Maine earlier this week, leaving behind a devastated family and community.
Their bodies were found on June 4 and June 5, respectively, following a harrowing multi-day search by Maine authorities and Warden Service K9 teams, per PEOPLE.
The father-daughter duo had traveled to Maine on a work-related sales trip for Rifton Equipment, the New York-based medical supply company where they both worked.
During a break from their work commitments, they made plans to hike a mountain that had long fascinated them, but the weekend escape turned into heartbreak.
Joe Keiderling, Tim’s brother, told NBC News: "They decided to take a weekend vacation and climb a mountain that had always attracted them."
In a poignant Substack post just one day before they went missing, Esther wrote about being "a little nervous" about the hike due to what she'd read about the steep and exposed Abol Trail, according to WMTW-TV.
The Keiderling family is now grappling with the immense loss. In a statement shared by the family’s Bruderhof community church, Tim’s brother-in-law Heinrich Arnold said: "Both were taken from us far too soon, and we are all left asking: ‘Why?’"
"One comfort to the family is knowing that Tim and Esther were doing something they both were passionate about: being near to God, surrounded by expansive views and visions, immersed in nature, in the raw and wild beauty of creation," Arnold added.
He described the last few days as “filled with endless hours of heartache and prayer.”
Joe Keiderling called his brother "utterly unique," recalling how “many young men and women remember him as an elementary school teacher who could hold them spellbound with wildly imaginative stories and escapades in the woods and fields of the Hudson Valley he called home.”
Tim, a father of six and grandfather of two, was also an active member of the Bruderhof Communities. “At church gatherings, Tim was a regular contributor, not only as a lay pastor but as a gifted storyteller, bringing life and vitality to familiar Bible stories and making them relevant to the issues of the day,” Joe said.
At home, he was “the consummate host” who adored “lively conversation and a great laugh.” He also found joy in nature — growing strawberries and blueberries, tending to bees, and cherishing his spiritual path.
As for Esther, her uncle described her as “quiet but deeply sensitive.”
“She loved reading and writing, with a particular fondness for the poets Gerard Manley Hopkins and Edna St. Vincent Millay,” Joe shared.
Tim and Esther were last seen around 10:15AM on Sunday, June 1, as they departed from the Abol Campground to summit Mount Katahdin. Their vehicle was later found in a day-use parking lot, prompting a large-scale search operation on Monday.
The Baxter State Park website warns that the Katahdin trails are “very strenuous,” with limited water access and full exposure after 2.5 miles. The hike can take 8 to 12 hours round-trip.
On June 3, Tim’s body was discovered near the summit. The next day, authorities located Esther’s body about 1,000 feet away between two trails off the Tablelands.
As of now, there is no evidence of foul play. Officials say the state medical examiner will determine the official cause of death and investigators are still working to understand why their bodies were found apart.