Enzo Steiner, nine, tells rescuers that parents Ornella and David took one mouthful of water while making him take two during fatal hike in New Mexico

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

It was supposed to be a dream holiday; a five-week road trip around the western United States for travel-mad Ornella and David Steiner, and their son, Enzo.

The French couple had planned the trip for more than a year and had organised a busy itinerary to see, and photograph, as much as possible.



“They’d done a similar trip last year but for only 10 days and kept saying they were going back for longer,” said a friend this weekend.



But the trip of a lifetime was to end in tragedy.



Last Tuesday, rangers at the White Sands National Monument in New Mexico found the couple dead, apparently from heat and a lack of water. Enzo, nine, was discovered dehydrated and sunburned but alive, next to his father’s body.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest White Sands National Monument in New Mexico Photograph: Hanout

Two empty 50cl bottles of water were found with the bodies, well below the 3.8 litres of water the park recommends for each hiker.

Enzo’s grandmother, who flew out to America after learning of the tragedy, was scheduled to bring him back to France this weekend.

Park rangers came across Ornella Steiner, 51, first at 17.30 on Tuesday while on a routine patrol of the Alkali Flat trail in the park, a vast desert of bleached sand.

Looking at the photographs on her camera, they realised she had been hiking with a man and a child. Driving further into the park, they came across her husband, 42, and son a couple of miles further on.

Enzo told rescuers his mother had decided to return to their hire car after feeling unwell in the heat that hovered above 38C. When his father became unconscious, Enzo, not knowing what else to do, decided to stay with him.



Rescuers said it appeared that the parents, who had not signed the park’s entry register, had left for their hike shortly after midday when temperatures can reach 40C. Park officials advise early morning or late evening hikes. They added that Enzo told rangers his parents had given the best part of their dwindling water supply to him.



Benny House, the local sheriff, said the boy had told them that his mother and father had “taken one mouthful, while they made him take two”.



“Perhaps that’s why he came out of it alive, because he is smaller and probably drank more water than them,” House told the local Alamogordo Daily News.



Facebook Twitter Pinterest White Sands National Monument - The park authorities warn visitors against underestimating the heat and risk of dehydration. Photograph: Alamy

“They underestimated the elements,” a county official told Agence France-Presse.

David Steiner’s father, Alain, told Le Parisien his son, who ran a press and advertising agency in Burgundy where the family lived, was passionate about travelling and had been planning his US trip for more than a year.

He admitted he had expressed reservations that his son was trying to pack too much into the visit, but said: “Children often don’t listen to their parents. This was fatal.



“On Wednesday morning, the police rang at my door … they gave me a letter from the Foreign Affairs ministry telling of the death of my son and daughter-in-law. Of course, I cried like a child even though I’m 69 years old.”

He added: “According to the ministry’s information, David and Ornella gave all their water reserves to their son to allow him to survive. But the circumstances of their deaths aren’t yet known.



“My wife and travelled a lot with David when he was young. We visited at least 20 countries and gave him the bug. He travelled a lot with Ornella and was passionate about photography.”



He said his grandson had not spoken about his parents. “I told him you’re coming back to nanny and granddad, who can’t wait to see you.”

Ornella Steiner worked for more than 20 years at the Reims town hall where colleagues were said to be deeply shocked.



White Sands National Monument is one of the world’s great natural wonders with enormous wave-like dunes across 275 sq miles. The park authorities warn visitors against underestimating the heat and risk of dehydration.

Postmortems are being carried out to determine the exact cause of the Steiners’ deaths.

