A father and daughter perished while hiking in scorching temperatures at a remote Utah park after sending a distressing text message to 911, indicating they were lost and had run out of water, authorities confirmed.
Albino Herrera Espinoza, aged 52, and his 23-year-old daughter, Beatriz Herrera, residents of Green Bay, Wisconsin, were identified by the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office on Monday as the deceased hikers discovered on Friday evening in Canyonlands National Park near Moab.
On the following day, three additional hikers were found suffering from heat-related illnesses in Snow Canyon State Park in southwest Utah, where a 30-year-old woman succumbed to the extreme conditions, as reported by the Santa Clara-Ivins Public Safety Department.
The search for Herrera Espinoza and his daughter commenced around 6 p.m. local time on Friday after the National Park Service (NPS) alerted the Utah Department of Public Safety to their 911 distress texts.
“The NPS report indicated that the hikers, a father and daughter, became lost while hiking the Syncline Loop Trail,” the sheriff’s office stated on Monday. “NPS dispatch relayed emergency 911 texts from the hikers, stating they were lost and without water.”
Officials noted the temperature exceeded 100 degrees Fahrenheit when the father and daughter sent their urgent texts to 911 dispatchers.
The area where Herrera Espinoza and his daughter were hiking, near the park’s Island in the Sky mesa, includes the challenging Syncline Loop Trail, described by the NPS as featuring steep switchbacks, boulder fields, and a 1,500-foot elevation change.
The sheriff’s office confirmed the father and daughter were found deceased in a remote area of the park known as the Upheaval Dome. Due to the difficult terrain, the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office coordinated with the Department of Public Safety helicopter team to retrieve the bodies early on July 13.
The deceased were transported to the state Office of the Medical Examiner for examination.
“With ongoing high temperatures this summer, park visitors are urged to carry and drink ample water and avoid strenuous activities during midday heat,” advised the NPS in a statement released Saturday following the fatalities.
In parallel incidents, the Santa Clara-Ivins Public Safety Department responded to a heat-related emergency at Snow Canyon State Park, where first responders treated individuals suffering from heat-related ailments, including the discovery of a deceased 30-year-old woman nearby.
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As a severe heat wave persists across the United States, heat-related deaths in July have reached at least 31 in the Western states, according to reports from law enforcement agencies.