Yellowstone National Park officials said Thursday that a foot found floating in a hot spring in August belonged to Il Hun Ro, a 70-year-old man from Los Angeles, California.
Law enforcement officers identified him through DNA testing in the last three weeks and notified his family.
A hot spring at West Thumb Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park.
(Christian Vaisee/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)
The foot was found floating on August 18, 2022, in a hot spring in the West Thumb Geyser Basin, which is about 53 feet deep and reaches 140 degrees.
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“The investigation determined, to the best of our knowledge, that an unwitnessed incident involving a person occurred on the morning of July 31, 2022 at Abyss Pool, and no foul play occurred,” park officials said in a statement. a statement on Thursday.
“Based on the lack of evidence, the circumstances surrounding Ro’s death remain unknown.”
Hot springs in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming.
(Images by AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/GC)
The national park warns visitors to stay on boardwalks and trails a safe distance from hot springs, which are formed by precipitation seeping into the ground and overheating. The warmer water then rises to the surface while the cooler, heavier water sinks around it.
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It’s the first hot spring-related death in Yellowstone since a 23-year-old man slipped and fell into one in Norris Geyser Basin in July 2016.
