Authorities have discovered the body of a hiker who vanished on Sunday while looking for water for his thirsty girlfriend in California’s Gaviota State Park.
After a four-day search and rescue effort, Tim Sgrignoli’s corpse was discovered Thursday morning off a route close to Santa Barbara, according to a sheriff’s spokesman.
Sgrignoli, a 29-year-old native of Ventury, and his girlfriend were trekking the Gariota Hot Springs route in the Ynez mountains over the weekend when she started to experience moderate heat exhaustion as a result of the sweltering heat.
Authorities managed to rescue the hiker’s girlfriend on Sunday afternoon; however, Sgrignoli never made it back.
Although his cause of death has not been determined, it is believed that he most likely passed away from heat exhaustion, dehydration, and exposure. No foul play is suspected.
It happens while the western United States, notably California, Nevada, and Arizona, continue to fry in a scorching heat wave.
The state capital of California had its warmest day ever on Tuesday when temperatures in Sacramento topped 116 degrees Fahrenheit.
According to members of the Santa Barbara Country Fire Department, they got a complaint about a couple in need of assistance on the Gaviota Hot Springs Trail at approximately 2 p.m. on Sunday.
Sgrignoli stayed with his sick girlfriend until officials verified a rescue chopper had been sent, at which time he made the decision to hunt for water, according to spokeswoman Scott Safechuck.
Yesterday, Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Commander Erik Raney informed News Channel 3-12 that one of the shared Search and Rescue teams from San Mateo County had discovered Mr. Sgrignoli, who was sadly dead.
As far as making this search more difficult, “the heat” was the main problem. As you are aware, we saw record-breaking temperatures throughout the first few days.
Sgrignoli’s relatives and friends began posting significant concerns about his absence on social media by Wednesday morning, and a sizable contingent of unpaid volunteers began scouring the trails in an effort to locate the hiker.
Around 9 a.m. on Thursday, search and rescue personnel discovered the corpse 20 feet off Highway 101, north of the Gaviota tunnel and near to the Hot Springs trail.
In the same week that Sgrignoli passed away, a ‘talented’ doctor who had just become a parent for the first time perished while trekking in Arizona with five other people in temperatures over 109F after running out of water and becoming lost.
Authorities have verified that Dr. Evan Dishion, 32, passed away on Monday afternoon while trekking close to Cave Creek.
At 1:25 PM, Maricopa County sheriff’s officers got a complaint regarding hikers in distress at Spur Cross Trailhead Mountain, which is roughly 40 miles north of Phoenix. Six individuals were rescued as a result.
According to the Scottsdale Fire Department, the hikers continued on the route despite running out of water before becoming disoriented.
Dishion was one of those that was saved from the path, but he eventually passed away from heat exhaustion in the hospital.
The physician leaves behind his wife, Amy Dishion, and their three-month-old daughter Chloe.
Before settling in Phoenix, Arizona, the couple relocated all over the nation and had their first kid there.
His wife, whom he met twelve years ago at a community colleague in Oregon, praised him as being “very serious, self-reflective, and clever and simply wanting to assist others.” He once turned to me and said, “I believe I want to be a doctor.”
He wanted to go trekking with his pals since he hadn’t spent much time with them since the birth of his kid.
He told his wife he would return if it got too hot, and Amy didn’t find out what had occurred until she got a call from the hospital.