3 Hikers Found Dead, Including Father And Daughter, In Utah Parks Amid High Heat

Three people died and two others had to be rescued in state and national parks in Utah over the weekend due to suspected heat-related incidents.

A father, 52, and daughter, 23, from Green Bay, Wisconsin, were found dead Friday evening in Canyonlands National Park in southeast Utah after sending 911 texts for help, the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office said in a release on Monday.

The pair said they had gotten lost and run out of water while hiking the 8-mile Syncline Loop Trail, which the National Parks Service describes as the most challenging in the area and the site of most park rescues.

Their bodies had to be extracted from the area the next morning via helicopter due to the remote and rugged terrain, the sheriff’s office said.

Temperatures in the park on Friday reached 106 degrees Fahrenheit, according to AccuWeather.com .

A father and daughter who reported getting lost in Canyonlands National Park on Friday were later found dead, authorities said.

Then, on Saturday, approximately 300 miles southwest in Snow Canyon State Park, a 30-year-old woman was found dead while authorities were helping her parents, who were suffering from a heat-related incident roughly 100 yards away, Detective Mike Pondoyo of the Santa Clara–Ivins Police Department told HuffPost.

First responders were able to treat and transport the woman’s parents to a hospital. A passerby at the scene then flagged down police after finding the couple’s daughter, who was determined to be dead, said Pondoyo.

It’s not clear why the woman became separated from her parents, though “one could assume that the daughter went to go get help,” Pondoyo said.

A 30-year-old woman was also found dead on Saturday in Snow Canyon State Park, pictured. Her parents were found near her suffering from a heat-related incident and taken to a hospital.

The woman’s official cause of death is suspected to be heat-related, although the autopsy results are still pending. Her parents remained hospitalized on Tuesday, said Pondoyo.

“We always tell people … plan ahead, go early, stay out of the sun, stay hydrated,” he said, adding that temperatures hit 115 degrees on Saturday. There was also extremely poor air quality due to two wildfires burning in the surrounding area, he added.

The local public safety department also reminded members of the public to stay hydrated and drink more water than they think they need amid soaring temperatures.

“Remember, your body may still need water even if you don’t feel thirsty,” the department said in a statement announcing the woman’s death and her parents’ rescue.