A 24-year-old mountain biker died Saturday after stopping to help a group of hikers in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, which is located about an hour and a half east of San Diego, California, according to CalFire.
The San Diego Medical Examiner’s Office identified the biker as Otay Mesa resident Kai Torres Bronson on Tuesday.
His cause of death is pending at this time, according to the medical examiners office, but it is “highly likely” that he died from the intense heat, CalFire Capt. Brent Pascua said. He added that it was 110 degrees Fahrenheit on Saturday when Torres Bronson was found.
About five miles into the Goat Canyon Trestle Trail, the four hikers found themselves in “bad shape” after running out of water and food, Pascua said.
A group of four mountain bikers found them and split up to get help, Pascua told CNN. Pascua said two bikers went to the top of the trailhead and called authorities.
After receiving a call to assist the San Diego Sheriff’s Office (SDSO), CalFire sent a ground crew and helicopter. The hikers were later airlifted to the trailhead where they were met by an ambulance, Pascua said.
Torres Bronson and the biker who had remained with the hikers began to ride back up to the trailhead, but got separated, Pascua told CNN.
Torres Bronson was found unresponsive a quarter mile down the trail. He was carried back up the trailhead, where he was later pronounced dead, Pascua added.
Earlier that day, Torres Bronson and his friends went to Jacumba Hot Springs for a mountain bike ride and rode from their meeting point close to Interstate Route 8 to Goat Canyon Trestle, according to a summary from the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Torres Bronson had “complained of feeling tired and stayed behind while a friend went to retrieve water for him,” according to the summary. The biker had collapsed multiple times along the way “to return to the meeting point” until he “ultimately became unresponsive.”
It is not clear if the meeting point was the trailhead. It is also not clear if the friend who went to get water went to the trailhead, where he was met by CalFire authorities. CNN has reached out to SDSO and the medical examiner’s office for clarification.
SDSO has taken over the investigation, according to Pascua.
He urged people to bring more water than they think they may need before hiking in the heat and to research the trails before heading out.
