Man found dead in Death Valley following record-breaking heat

A person walks on a boardwalk at the salt flats at Badwater Basin in Death Valley National Park, Calif. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Visitors to Death Valley National Park made a grisly discovery earlier this week: the body of a man who appeared to succumb to extreme temperatures during a record-setting June heat wave.

The deceased, 67-year-old David Kelleher of Huntington Beach, California, appeared to have run out gas while traveling through the California park, which has some of the hottest and most extreme weather on Earth. Temperatures rose to a sweltering 123 degrees Fahrenheit on June 10, shattering the daily record high of 120 set in 1994.

In a statement, the National Park Service wrote that Kelleher's vehicle was found in the parking lot of Zabriskie Point, a popular hiking area and a top spot for visitors to view the sunrise and sunset. A park ranger noticed the vehicle, which was the only one in the parking lot on June 8. Three days later, the ranger noticed the vehicle for a second time, as it was once again the last vehicle in the lot.

A closer inspection of the vehicle revealed a crumbled note inside that read "out of gas."

Soon after, a ground and aerial search was launched for Kelleher. On June 14, Kelleher's body was discovered by park visitors about 2 1/2 miles from their vehicle. The body was found just 30 feet away from California Highway 190, a popular route through the park, obscured by the terrain and trees.

Premium and diesel fuel prices exceed $9 per gallon at Furnace Creek, California. (Twitter/Peter Tellone)

Based on where his body was discovered, park rangers think Kelleher might have been walking to get gas at Furnace Creek. Gas prices at the isolated gas station are the most expensive in the entire country at nearly $9 per gallon for regular gasoline.

Kelleher had been in the park for some time; he was cited by an officer for off-road driving on May 30, and on that same day mentioned to a park ranger that he was low on gas.

The NPS says that in the event that a tourist's car runs out of gas while driving through Death Valley, people should wait at their vehicle for help to arrive rather than walk to find assistance.

Heat is the most deadly weather-related killer, killing 138 people a year on average in the United States alone. Last year, an unprecedented and record-setting heat wave killed hundreds of people in the Pacific Northwest and Canada.

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