Father and daughter found dead at Canyonlands National Park after getting lost, running out of water in triple-digit heat
Albino Herrera Espinoza, 52, and his daughter, Beatriz Herrera, 23, were visiting the southeast Utah park from their home in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and hiking the Syncline Loop Trail where the temperature at the time was over 100 degrees, according to the National Park Service.
Espinoza is the owner of El Sarape, a well-known Mexican restaurant in Green Bay, CNN affiliate WGBA reported.
The pair were found deceased just 15 minutes apart Friday shortly before 6 p.m. after the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office was notified by the National Park Service “of a deceased hiker in the Upheaval Dome area of Canyonlands National Park,” a news release from the sheriff’s office said.
NPS rangers and a helicopter crew from the Bureau of Land Management Moab District responded and initiated a search operation, according the park service.
It’s unclear how long the father and daughter were lost in the park, located about 250 miles from Salt Lake City, or how long it took authorities to find them after they died.
The United States is experiencing a historically hot summer as the heat goes on a July killing spree. The death toll will likely keep growing as the typically hottest month of the year carries on. It’s been the hottest summer on record for around 100 US cities from Maine to California. Heat is suspected in the deaths of over three dozen people in the US in July, a number that is likely an underestimate, given the time required to attribute a death to nature’s most prolific weather killer.
With many of those deaths occurring in the West, where cities have shattered all-time record high temperatures during an unprecedented and long heat wave, Canyonlands visitors can expect high temperatures and intense sunlight during the summer months, the park noted in a recent post.
“Canyonlands is an isolated and rugged environment,” the post said. “You may have to drive more than 50 miles to find food, gas, lodging, or medical facilities.”
When taking part in outdoor activities in the heat, the park service reminds visitors to carry and drink plenty of water and avoid “strenuous” activity during the hottest times of the day, typically 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Espinoza and Herrera’s bodies were delivered to the Utah State Office of the Medical Examiner for examination, the sheriff’s office said.
The local authorities in Green Bay might reach out to Espinoza about his popular restaurant, El Sarape, due to the unfortunate incident. The US government is urging visitors to Canyonlands National Park, including the Espinosas, to be extra cautious during the historically hot summer, considering the park's isolation and rugged terrain.
