Foot found in Yellowstone hot pool ID’d as that of LA man
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. (AP) — A foot found floating in a Yellowstone National Park hot pool last summer belonged to a 70-year-old man from Los Angeles, park officials said Thursday.
It still isn't clear how the man, Il Hun Ro, ended up in the spring, but that investigators don't suspect foul play, park officials said in a statement.
Park staff found Ro's partial foot inside of a shoe in Abyss Pool in the park's West Thumb Geyser Basin in August.
Investigators concluded that whatever happened to Ro occurred on the morning of July 31, but that nobody saw it. They identified Ro through a DNA analysis and notified his family, officials said.
Based on a lack of evidence, the circumstances surrounding the death of Ro remain unknown.
Officials say the investigation has concluded, and the park has no additional information to share.
Abyss Pool is 53 feet deep and about 140 degrees Fahrenheit. In such springs, hot water cools as it reaches the surface and then sinks as it is replaced by hotter water from below. The circulation prevents the water from reaching the temperature needed to set off an eruption like those that happen in the park's geysers.
