Rangers say nothing to recover after man fell into Yellowstone hot spring
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. -- Rangers have suspended efforts to recover the body of an Oregon man who fell into a highly acidic hot spring after wandering away from a designated boardwalk at Yellowstone National Park.
Park spokeswoman Charissa Reid said there were no remains left to recover at the site where 23-year-old Colin Nathaniel Scott slipped into the hot spring on Tuesday.
A witness reported seeing a man in his early 20s walk off the boardwalk in the Norris Geyser Basin area and fall into the thermal spring about 225 yards away, park officials said in a statement to CBS affiliate KRTV.
"The recovery process is very difficult because of the hazards of the environment," Reid told KRTV.
Reid says Scott's sister was with him at the time of the accident, looking at thermal features in the Norris Geyser Basin.
Reid said the man is in his 20s, but she would not identify the man or where he is from.
The Norris Geyser Basin is the hottest and most dynamic thermal area in Yellowstone, which features springs that can reach temperatures close to 200 degrees Fahrenheit.
Tuesday's search comes on the heels of several other high-profile incidents at the park.
On Saturday, a 13-year-old boy was burned around his ankle and foot after his father, who had been carrying him, slipped in the park's Upper Geyser Basin hot spring.
In May, a Canadian film crew was accused of leaving an established boardwalk and stepping onto a geothermal feature where they snapped photos and took video of themselves.
Also last month, another Canadian man loaded a bison calf into his SUV because he thought it was cold. The calf later had to be euthanized because it could not be reunited with its herd.
In April, park officials warned people against approaching wildlife in the park after a woman was caught on video petting a bison.
Nearly 4.1 million people visited Yellowstone in 2015.