German hiker found dead off Ventana trail north of Tucson

A German man who went missing while hiking in the Catalina Mountains during a record-breaking heat wave Sunday was found dead, officials said Tuesday.

This brought to four the number of people who died outdoors in the Tucson area on a day that saw the high temperature reach a record 115 degrees.

The Pima County Sheriff’s Department and other agencies began searching for Marcus Turowski, a 33-year-old German man visiting Tucson, on Sunday afternoon. Turowski and two other German men apparently became dehydrated while hiking Ventana Trail #98.

Searchers found Turow- ski’s body at 7 a.m. Tuesday, said Deputy Ryan Inglett, a Sheriff’s Department spokesman.

The search had resumed at about 5 a.m. by the sheriff’s search-and-rescue team, along with the Southern Arizona Rescue Association and other groups. Searchers focused on off-trail locations and found Turowski’s body west of the trail, Inglett said.

One of Turowski’s hiking companions, 57-year-old Stefan Guenster, was found dead Sunday about 4 miles from the trailhead near North Craycroft and North Kolb roads. The third member of the hiking party was able to hike out and alert authorities.

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In addition to the two Germans, officials said the two others who died Sunday were also from out of town.

The Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner said Tuesday that 54-year-old Jana Kirkpatrick, of Piedmont, Alabama, was found dead after going for a walk. Authorities said Kirkpatrick left at 3 p.m. Sunday, and her husband called 911 when she didn’t return.

She was found on The Loop multi-use path near the 5000 block of South Outlet Drive near East Irvington Road and Interstate 10. Kirkpatrick was a traveling nurse who had been in Tucson for the last few months.

Chief Medical Examiner Gregory Hess identified an 18-year-old hiker found dead on the Finger Rock Trail as Adrienna Rasmussen.

According to Hess, Rasmussen was studying in Tucson but is from Washington state.

Authorities said she and a 22-year-old man got lost and ran out of water. The man was airlifted to Tucson Medical Center and treated.