Visitor from France dies after being stranded in Death Valley National Park

A French visitor died on Monday after he and his companion became stranded on a remote road in Death Valley National Park, officials announced on Friday. Pierre Michel Formosa, 68, and his traveling companion, also from France, were driving on West Side Road when their vehicle stuck in mud near Queen of Sheba Mine Road. With no other vehicles in the area, the men walked across the salt flats toward Badwater Road seeking help. Temperatures reached 116 degrees that day, according to the report. After about 1.3 miles, Formosa could not continue. His companion pressed on to Badwater Road, where he received assistance from a passing motorist and reported the incident at the Furnace Creek Visitor Center shortly after 2 p.m. National Park Service rangers and an Inyo County deputy launched a search and rescue operation around 2:13 p.m. A California Highway Patrol helicopter joined the effort and located Formosa that afternoon, approximately 1½ miles from Badwater Road. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The Inyo County coroner will determine the cause and manner of death. “Our deepest condolences are with the household and friends of the visitant who died,” Death Valley National Park Superintendent Mike Reynolds said successful the release. “This is simply a heartbreaking reminder of however rapidly conditions present tin crook dangerous. Death Valley is an bonzer place, but its heat, distances, and remoteness tin beryllium dangerous, careless of experience. We’re grateful to everyone who took portion successful the search, and our thoughts are with his loved ones.” Death Valley National Park lies roughly 125 miles northwest of Las Vegas.