A French tourist died last week in California’s Death Valley after the vehicle he was in got stuck in mud and he ventured away for help amid temperatures that reached 116 degrees, officials said.
\n\nPierre Michel Formosa, 68, was with a companion on Monday when the vehicle they were using got stuck in mud, the National Park Service said Friday in a news release.
\n\nThe two set out on foot along the desert salt flats toward the paved Badwater Road, one of the park’s main roadways, to seek help, it said. Formosa said he couldn’t keep going and stopped about 1.3 miles into the trek, according to the park service.
\n\nThe companion made it to the road and flagged down a driver at about 2 p.m., it said, triggering a search for Formosa that included park rangers and a California Highway Patrol helicopter.
\n\nSearchers found Formosa’s body that afternoon, about 1.5 miles from Badwater Road, the park service said.
\n\nDeath Valley National Park Superintendent Mike Reynolds offered condolences to Formosa’s family. “This is a heartbreaking reminder of how quickly conditions here can turn dangerous,” he said in a statement.
\n\nThe location of Formosa’s and his companion’s vehicle was near a…
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