A French tourist, Pierre Michel Formosa, 68, tragically died this month in California’s Death Valley National Park. The National Park Service (NPS) made the announcement on August 21.
Formosa and a travel companion, both French nationals, were navigating West Side Road near Badwater Basin on August 17. Their vehicle got stuck in mud. With no other vehicles nearby, they started walking across the salt flats to seek help on Badwater Road.
Temperatures soared to 116°F, and Formosa eventually could not continue.
The companion managed to reach a passerby who helped them, alerting officials at Furnace Creek Visitor Center around 2 p.m. NPS rangers and an Inyo County sheriff’s deputy started searching for Formosa, later aided by a California Highway Patrol helicopter. Formosa was found that afternoon, about 1.5 miles from Badwater Road. He was declared dead at the scene.
Superintendent Mike Reynolds of Death Valley National Park expressed gratitude to the search participants and offered condolences to Formosa’s loved ones. He highlighted the area’s dangers, noting its extreme heat and remoteness. Temperatures at the time of the incident reached 116 degrees.
This unfortunate event is part of a recent pattern of fatalities in national parks. Earlier in the summer, an 18-year-old succumbed to heat-related problems at the Grand Canyon, and a professional climber, Jake Whisenant, died in a fall at Sequoia National Park.
Death Valley’s extreme heat, distances, and isolation pose real danger to everyone, regardless of their experience.
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