A brother and sister visiting Yellowstone National Park left the designated trail and ventured over to a hot spring despite signs warning of the dangers. When 23-year-old Colin Scott bent down to feel the water he slipped and fell in, all while his sister was filming this with her phone. She called 911 emergency services as her brother disappeared out of sight into the hot spring.
Gruesome rescue attempt
The gory details of this attempted rescue back in June were not released and the same goes for the clip Scott's sister took. Authorities kept the details of this death and that video away from the public out of concern for the family.
A Freedom of Information Act recently filed has now put the reports detailing this death out there for the public to view.
By the time the rescue crews had arrived the remains of Scott's body were already partially dissolved in the acidic boiling water. While the crews were attempting to retrieve his remains, darkness fell and a lightning storm moved into the area. Concern for the safety of the rescuers prompted the recovery effort to be suspended until the following day, according to the BBC.
Completely dissolved man's remains
When the crews assembled the next morning to continue the effort, there was nothing left of Scott's body. The remains of the 23-year-old had completely dissolved into the "unforgiving" hot spring.
The reports indicate that Colin and his sister, Sable Scott, left the safety of the boardwalk to get closer to the hot spring back on June 7 of this year.
The area is closed off because it is so dangerous, but this brother and sister duo were attempting to find a hot spring where they could actually get in to soak. The warnings and danger signs did not deter the siblings for some reason and they took the risk, but it was a risk that caused Collin to lose his life.
Deadly mistake
This is not just a hot spring, the acid level in the water is also extremely dangerous. The area where this accident occurred is on the edge of the caldera in Yellowstone. Caldera means a "supervolcano" or "hotspot."
The possibility of that "cataclysmic eruption" that you hear about periodically regarding Yellowstone is referring to this caldera, which does have that potential.
The eruption of that magnitude would change the climate of this planet for decades, according to the experts. Those same experts claim an eruption of that size is low in probability for at least a few thousand years.
Remains break down
Most can understand how this gory death and the fact that the body dissolved is not something the authorities wanted to see in the headlines out of respect for the victim's family. The fact that this happened needs to be conveyed to the public. These stories of hot acidic water at Yellowstone are not folklore, it is real and deadly. If this incident going public could deter just one other visitor from going off the beaten path and into the danger area, then it was well worth making public.
