Two tourists from France who had gone trekking along New Mexico’s White Sands desert, were found dead by a patrol team. Their nine-year-old son, who had accompanied them on the hike, survived.
The White Sands Desert in New Mexico is notorious for high temperatures especially during mid-day. Which is why, hikers are advised to start their trek early in the morning or during early evening, when the temperatures are relatively more tolerable.
Last Tuesday, August 4th, the park rangers found the body of the woman at 5:30 pm, 2.5 km within the Alkali Flats trail, and then found the man’s body after half an hour, with the child next to it.
The couple were identified as David Steiner, 42, and his wife Ornella Steiner, 51. They were tourists from the small French town of Bourgogne, near the city of Reims.
It is to be noted that besides leaving for the trek around mid day, they also carried inadequate amount of water. The family was carrying two 20-ounce (591 mL) bottles of water while the prescribed amount for the trek is at least 3.8 L water for each person.
Realizing that they were running out of water, the couple let their son have 2 sips of water for every one sip they took. Park rangers say, this is probably why the child survived.
h/t The Guardian .