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Californian In Need Of Gas Dies During Death Valley Heat Wave

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By Compiled From N... - June 15th, 2022
June produced record-setting heat at Death Valley National Park/NPS file

A Californian apparently in search for gasoline died during the recent heat wave a Death Valley National Park/NPS file

A Californian apparently setting out on foot in Death Valley National Park in need of gas for his car was found dead during the park's recent heat wave.

Visitors found the body of David W. Kelleher, 67, of Huntington Beach, California, on Tuesday, a park release said Wednesday. The man appeared to have been walking from Zabriskie Point toward Furnance Creek, it added.

On the morning of June 8, a park ranger noticed that there was only one vehicle in Zabriskie Point parking lot. On the evening of June 11, the same park ranger saw only one vehicle in the parking lot and remembered it from three days earlier. A heat wave caused record temperatures, up to 123°F.

The vehicle was registered to Kelleher. Park rangers initiated an investigation and learned that the man had not been reported missing. A records search also showed that a park ranger had cited Kelleher for off-road driving on May 30.

A ground and aerial search for the man was limited by hot weather. The search focused on the Golden Canyon and Badlands Trails, not where he was later found.

A crumpled note inside Kelleher’s vehicle said, “Out of gas," the park release noted. "Kelleher had also mentioned being low on gas when contacted by a park ranger May 30 near Dantes View Road. Park rangers say in extreme heat, people should wait at a broken vehicle, rather than attempting to walk for assistance. Kelleher’s vehicle was parked at one of the park’s most popular viewpoints."

Kelleher's body was found Tuesday afternoon around 2 p.m. He was about 2 ½ miles from his vehicle, but only about 30 feet from California Highway 190, which was obscured by terrain and a mesquite tree.

The National Park Service encourages park visitors to stay safe in the summer by not hiking at low elevations after 10 a.m., staying within a short walk of air-conditioning, drinking plenty of water, and eating salty snacks.

This is the park’s second recent fatality. John McCarry, 69, of Long Beach, California, was found deceased in Panamint Valley on June 1.

A search started on May 23 for Peter Harootunian, whose vehicle was noticed by National Park Service staff abandoned in Emigrant Campground. Harootunian has not been found, and the search has been scaled back to limited and continuous.

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