Missing hiker found dead near Death Valley dunes

Bay Area News GroupNovember 10, 2021 at 8:24 a.m.

A Death Valley hiker who was missing overnight was found dead Sunday about 1½ miles from her car, park officials said.

The 27-year-old woman had left the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes parking lot around 11 a.m. Saturday with her aunt. About half an hour later, they split up. The aunt returned to the car, and the younger woman said she would return in an hour or two.

Around 5 p.m., the aunt contacted park rangers to report her niece overdue. The search continued into the night and then resumed the next morning.

At 9:22 a.m. Sunday, the woman's body was found about 1½ miles north of the parking lot, in the flats beyond the sand dunes.

Park officials have not released the woman's name or city; they said her aunt described her as an experienced hiker.

The Inyo County Coroner's Office was investigating the cause of death. Foul play is not suspected, a park release said.

Mesquite Flat is near Stovepipe Wells, in a well-traveled area of the park. Over the weekend, Death Valley high temperatures were in the mid-80s and overnight lows in the upper 50s.

At least five other people have died this year while hiking or climbing in Death Valley:

Jan. 30: Justin Ibershoff, 38, Los Angeles. Fell from a cliff during a rockslide while canyoneering in Deimos Canyon.

April 4: Alexander Lofgren, 32, Tucson, Ariz. Fell from a cliff in the Willow Creek area. His fiancee, who was injured trying to help him, was rescued five days later.

July 28: Douglas Branham, 68, Tukwila, Wash. Died while hiking by himself on the salt flats near Badwater. He is believed to have died two or three days before his body was found.

Aug. 18: Lawrence Stanback, 60, San Francisco. Collapsed while hiking on Golden Canyon Trail.

Aug. 21: Blake Chaplin, 52, Leawood, Kansas. Died while hiking on Golden Canyon Trail. His body was found by an early morning hiker the next day.

Extreme heat is considered a factor in the July and August deaths.