SF Man Found Dead In Death Valley National Park

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — A 60-year-old San Francisco man died while hiking in extreme heat in Death Valley National Park, park rangers confirmed on Saturday.

Lawrence Stanback was found Wednesday near Red Cathedral on the Golden Canyon Trail, more than a mile from the trailhead. Park staff received a report that a person had suffered a suspected heat stroke. Officials attempted to administer CPR around 1:40 p.m. that day, officials from Death Valley National Park wrote in a statement.

Park rangers launched an inter-agency search and rescue operation to scan inhospitable landscape on foot. Searchers were able to confirm that Stanback was dead.

Intense winds delayed the California Highway Patrol's attempt at safely landing a helicopter to retrieve Stanback's body, officials said. Once temperatures cooled in the evening, national park staff was able to recover him.

An official cause of death has yet to be determined.

Death Valley reaffirmed itself as the most blistering hot place on Earth this summer. The region saw the highest minimum temperature ever recorded in North America in mid-July —107.7 degrees — on the same day it saw a near-record high of 128.6 degrees, weather officials confirmed.

"Park rangers urge summer travelers to visit Death Valley safely by hiking only before 10 a.m. or at high elevations, drinking plenty of water, eating snacks, and by staying close to an air-conditioned building or vehicle to cool down in," park officials said in a statement.