Hiker found dead in Big Bend National Park in Texas

A hiker was found dead Monday along a trail in Big Bend National Park in Texas after rangers noticed a vehicle that had been parked for several days and launched a search, staff members said.

The National Park Service did not name the 24-year-old hiker in a statement. It said searchers discovered the hiker Monday along the Marufo Vega Trail.  

The search was launched Sunday after rangers at the over 801,000-acre national park in southwestern Texas noticed a vehicle that had been parked at a trailhead for days and had not been moved, the park service said.

The Marufo Vega Trail was described as rugged 14-mile trail that includes desert areas. “No shade or water makes this trail dangerous during the warmer times of year,” the park service said.

The body was removed by helicopter Monday, it said.

“Big Bend National Park staff and partners are saddened by this loss,” Deputy Superintendent Rick Gupman said in the statement. “Our entire park family extends condolences to the hiker’s family and friends.”

Even though it is late October, temperatures in the desert parts of Big Bend National Park have been reaching almost 100 degrees each afternoon, the park service said. The highs at Lajitas International Airport, just outside the park to the northwest, were almost 90 degrees on Saturday and Sunday, according to the National Weather Service’s Midland/Odessa office.