According to The Mercury News,

A Death Valley hiker who was missing overnight was found dead Sunday, November 7, 2021, about 1½ miles from her car, park officials said.

The 27-year-old woman had left the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes parking lot around 11 a.m. Saturday with her aunt. About half an hour later, they split up. The aunt returned to the car, and the younger woman said she would return in an hour or two.

Around 5 p.m., the aunt contacted park rangers to report her niece overdue. The search continued into the night and then resumed the next morning.

At 9:22 a.m. Sunday, the woman’s body was found about 1½ miles north of the parking lot, in the flats beyond the sand dunes.

Park officials have not released the woman’s name or city; they said her aunt described her as an experienced hiker.

The Inyo County Coroner’s Office was investigating the cause of death. Foul play is not suspected, a park release said.

Mesquite Flat is near Stovepipe Wells, in a well-traveled area of the park. Over the weekend, Death Valley high temperatures were in the mid-80s and overnight lows in the upper 50s.