A 36-year-old Las Vegas woman who vanished more than two weeks ago has been found dead in one of the most unforgiving corners of Death Valley National Park. Kimberly Savage’s family last heard from her on October 5, and her body was ultimately located in Badwater Basin, the vast salt flat that sits 282 feet below sea level and is a popular attraction with hazards.
According to SFGATE, the Las Vegas Police Department confirmed that a missing-person report had been filed for Savage. Her family told investigators she had last been in contact on October 5, according to a missing-person flyer cited in the SFGATE report. Separately, richlandtoday.com reported that her rental vehicle was later found in Death Valley National Park, though Savage herself was not with it.
Park service officials found an unattended vehicle associated with Savage in the Badwater Basin parking area on October 11, per the SFGATE account. A ground search by authorities followed on October 12, and that same day, a California Highway Patrol helicopter spotted a body in Badwater Basin. High winds kept search-and-rescue crews from recovering the body right away, the station reported, and the recovery was ultimately completed on October 13, according to the National Park Service.
Coroner Confirms Identity, Notifies Family
Coroner Confirms Identity, Notifies Family The National Park Service spokesperson Candice Stevenson told the outlet the woman was identified as Kimberly Savage, while the Inyo County coroner’s office confirmed that her family had been notified of her death. The coroner’s office was not immediately able to provide details about the circumstances of her death, per the same account. richlandtoday.com similarly reported that the circumstances surrounding Savage’s disappearance and death had not been fully established, and that as of October 14, official details about the recovery, cause of death and any investigation remained unclear.
Badwater Basin draws visitors for its otherworldly salt flats, but the same remoteness that makes it a popular attraction also makes it hazardous, with extreme heat and the risk of flash flooding cited among the basin’s dangers, per the station’s report. The basin sits at the lowest point in North America, a geographic extreme that has drawn both tourists and tragedy over the years.
A Pattern of Peril in Death Valley’s Heat
Savage’s death follows other fatal incidents in the park this year. In August, French tourist Pierre Michel Formosa, 68, died after his car became stuck in mud near Queen of Sheba Mine Road, according to The New York Times. Formosa and his travel companion set out walking across the salt flats toward Badwater Road for help as temperatures reached 116 degrees, the paper reported, and a California Highway Patrol helicopter eventually located him roughly 1.5 miles from the road.
The park’s website notes that summertime temperatures in Death Valley can reach as high as 130 degrees, with nighttime lows still hitting 90 degrees, per the Times. During a 2024 heat wave, the Los Angeles Times reported that the park recorded temperatures of at least 125 degrees every day since the Fourth of July. The National Park Service advises against hiking after 10 a.m. during periods of extreme heat and recommends staying within five minutes of air conditioning, according to that report, along with drinking at least a gallon of water a day during outdoor activity.
Fatal encounters with the park’s extremes are not new. In 2021, a visitor died from heat just days after another visitor died on the same trail, the Los Angeles Times reported. And in June, at least four hikers were reported dead at Grand Canyon National Park from apparent heat-related illnesses as temperatures reached triple digits, according to the Times.
For now, the exact circumstances that led to Kimberly Savage’s death remain unresolved. Her case adds to a string of recent fatalities in and around Death Valley’s most extreme terrain, even as investigators have yet to detail what happened between her October 5 disappearance and the recovery of her body more than a week later.
