French tourist dies in Death Valley heat after vehicle gets stuck in mud

The temperature reached 116 degrees the day Pierre Michel Formosa, 68, died, the National Park Service said.

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 in temperatures that reached 116 degrees, officials said.

Pierre Michel Formosa, 68, was with a companion Monday when the vehicle they were using got stuck in mud, the National Park Service said Friday in a news release.

The 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.

The 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.

Searchers found Formosa’s body that afternoon, about 1.5 miles from Badwater Road, the park service said.