His sisters say the victim was an experienced hiker and believe he went on a long hike on the morning of July 29, which was also the last day he was seen alive.
A Texas man whose body was found in Utah's Arches National Park on August 1 is believed to have died of heat stroke while on a trip to spread his father's ashes, family members said, according to reports.
James Bernard Hendricks, 66, of Austin, Texas, had been hiking in the Utah park and likely became disoriented from a combination of heat, dehydration and high altitude, his sisters Ila Hendricks and Ruth Hendricks Brough said Tuesday, according to CBS News.
He reportedly stopped in Utah while traveling across the West to the Sierra Nevada mountains, where he planned to spread his father's ashes on a peak located outside Reno, Nevada, the sisters said, according to CBS News.
On August 2, the National Park Service announced a body was discovered in Arches National Park the day before but gave little to no information.
“On the morning of August 1, 2023, Grand County Sheriff’s office issued an Attempt to Locate for a 66-year-old man from Austin, Texas, who had been reported overdue. Park rangers located the individual's vehicle at the Sand Dune Arch Trail parking lot and initiated a search of the area. The man was found deceased off-trail nearby. An investigation into this incident is being conducted jointly by the NPS and Grand County Sheriff’s Office. No additional information about the incident is available at this time,” they wrote on their website.
It was confirmed this week that the body was that of Hendricks, according to CBS News.
His sisters say the victim was an experienced hiker and believe he went on a long hike on the morning of July 29, which was also the last day he was seen alive, then possibly perished during a second, shorter hike the same day, KKTV reported.
Temperatures in the area topped 100 degrees Fahrenheit on July 29 and the sisters found out later that their brother had been taking medication that can lead to dehydration, KKTV reported.
The family had another loss two decades ago, when another brother, Ron Hendricks, disappeared in the Lake Tahoe area. The family was notified earlier this year that his remains had been found and identified through DNA testing, KKTV reported.
