Autopsy results list heat exhaustion and heat stroke as cause of death
Update 10:30a
Preliminary autopsy results have been returned, according to Judge Jerry Bigham, Randall County Justice of the Peace. He said the doctors listed heat stroke and heat exhaustion as the cause of death.
Final reports will arrive in several weeks, Bigham said.
Previously
Authorities are now releasing the name of the former German foreign exchange student found dead in Palo Duro Canyon Monday evening.
Nathan Londenberg, Palo Duro State Park Interim Superintendent told Pronews 7 the woman is identified as 20-year-old Christin Dahlke. Dahlke, originally from Berlin, was reportedly visiting her former host family and went hiking down in the Canyon on Monday.Hikers found Dahlke's body a quarter-mile off the Lighthouse trail. She went missing around 2:00 or 3:00 in the afternoon and a search party was sent out, the Randall County Sheriff's Department said. Hikers discovered her body around 6:00.
"We had a missing hiker around four o'clock when they first reported her missing," said Danny Alexander, Public Information Officer for the Randall County Sheriff's Office. "About an hour and a half or two hours later some other hikers found her off the trail and she was deceased."
Officials believe Dahlke died of heat exhaustion. Foul play is not suspected. Autopsy results are expected to returned by Thursday.
While the cause of her death remains undetermined, officials want to remind citizens to protect themselves when hiking in the extreme heat. Click here to those tips.
The temperature down in the Canyon during the time of her disappearance was about 120 degrees, officials said.
