Several park visitors at the Saddle Pass trail parking lot saw what they suspected was a body lying in a shallow ravine several feet from the trail on the afternoon of Sunday, July 16th. EMS personnel responded and an ambulance was summoned. The body of Joan Kovach, 51, of Canfield, Ohio, was found near the base of the trail at the point where it climbs the badland wall to intersect with the Castle/Medicine Root trail. No signs of life were detected, so the county coroner was called in. The trail and surrounding area were closed to the public. When the coroner arrived, the body was removed from the ravine and taken to Rapid City Regional Hospital. Investigators at first thought that Kovach might have fallen, as a small rock outcropping overlooking the trail showed clear indications of failure, with debris sliding down a 25-foot slope to the trial below. Chief ranger Mark Gorman was able to follow clear signs of her attempted self rescue from the spot where her body was found to a point within five feet of the rock fall. Near the base of the fall, rangers found hand and body imprints in the trail’s fine soils and powder. It appears that Kovach pushed and pulled herself down the trail for about 100 to 150 yards before being overcome by heat. Temperatures at the time exceeded 115 degrees and the relative humidity was around 12 percent. Kovach was not wearing hiking shoes, and had only a very small water supply with her, all of which she’d consumed. Due to the sudden and unexpected nature of the death, a thorough investigation was begun and an autopsy was requested. The chief forensic pathologist for western South Dakota was not available, so Kovach’s body was transported to the Clinic Lab of the Midwest in Sioux Falls. The chief forensic pathologist there conducted the examination and determined that heat exhaustion (hyperphermia) was the cause of death. No evidence was found to suggest that Kovach was injured in a fall or stuck by an object. Kovach had come to South Dakota for a short vacation to take in Mount Rushmore and the Badlands. Weather conditions have not improved since her death, with temperatures above 100 degrees expected for the next week.
