Texas man who died while spreading father's ashes likely succumbed to heat stroke in Arches National Park

• A 66-year-old man from Austin, Texas, whose body was discovered in Utah's Arches National Park, is believed to have succumbed to heat stroke while on a journey to scatter his father's ashes.
• Following James Hendricks being reported as missing, park rangers discovered his vehicle at a trailhead parking lot on the morning of August 1.
• The circumstances surrounding Hendricks' death are under investigation by both the National Park Service and the Grand County Sheriff's Office.

A Texas man whose body was found in Utah’s Arches National Park is believed to have died of heat stroke while on a trip to spread his father’s ashes, according to his sister.

James Bernard Hendricks, 66 of Austin, was hiking in the park and likely became disoriented from a combination of heat, dehydration and high altitude, according to sister Ruth Hendricks Bough.

Hendricks had stopped in Utah while journeying across the West to the Sierra Nevada region of Nevada and California to spread his father’s ashes, he said in social media posts prior to his death.

Rangers found his vehicle at a trailhead parking lot after Hendricks was reported overdue the morning of Aug 1, according to park officials. Hendrick's body was found nearby off-trail and his water bottle was empty, Bough said in a social media post.

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"He was loved by countless people because he was an unusually kind, sweet person who made friends easily. Now all these people are grieving. It was a horrible shock," the sister told the San Antonio Express-News.

The National Park Service and Grand County Sheriff's Office are investigating the death.

Arches National Park, located in a high-elevation desert north of Moab, Utah, is known for its natural sandstone arches.

Temperatures topped 90 degrees Fahrenheit in the area on the afternoon before Hendricks was reported missing.