Woman found dead in Death Valley is second heat-related death of 2016

A missing woman was found dead Sunday along a remote road 120 miles southwest of Las Vegas in what officials are calling Death Valley National Park’s second heat-related fatality of the year.

According to the National Park Service, authorities in California launched a search for Pi-Wei Hung, 40, early Sunday afternoon after she was reported missing during a drive from Las Vegas to Fort Irwin, California.

A little over an hour into the search, the woman’s vehicle was discovered stuck in the sand on the shoulder of Harry Wade Road, a 30-mile dirt track leading into the southern end of Death Valley.

Searchers from San Bernardino County, Inyo County, the Park Service and the Fort Irwin National Training Center found Hung’s body in the desert about five miles away at about 5 p.m. Sunday.

Authorities believe she may have gotten the vehicle stuck while attempting to turn around and then died in the heat as she tried to walk out of the area.

The high temperature that day was 113 degrees.

Her death comes less than three months after a 60-year-old tourist from Germany died from heat exposure on Harry Wade Road. Reinhard Egger’s body was found June 9 not far from his where his motorcycle was parked, upright and in working order, in the 118-degree heat.

The Park Service is reminding visitors that summer temperatures can quickly turn life-threatening in Death Valley, where cell service is spotty at best. Motorists should carry plenty of water and stick to paved roads in more heavily traveled areas.

If do you become stranded, park officials said you should stay with your vehicle, which provides shade and makes you easier to find.

Contact Henry Brean at hbrean@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0350. Follow @RefriedBrean on Twitter.