A terrifying simulation has revealed what happened to the man who suffered a fatal fall into a hot spring at Yellowstone National Park.
On June 7, 2016, Colin Scott, and his sister Sable, from Oregon, broke the rules and hiked into the park’s Porkchop Geyser to find a place to “hot pot,” which is the illegal practice of swimming in one of the park’s thermal features.
The 23-year-old was reportedly walking off Norris Geyser Basin’s boardwalk when he dipped his finger in to check the water temperature and then unintentionally “slipped and fell” into the scorching hot spring, as reported by The Guardian.
Sable, who had no service on her phone, ran towards a nearby museum to inform the park warden about the accident. But by the time she returned, all that was left in the hot spring was her brother’s head, upper torso, and hands.
A YouTuber, who goes by the handle Zack D. Films, has uploaded a horrific simulation that shows what may have happened to Colin when he fell.
In the clip, the content creator explains: “The hot water caused severe burns as soon as he fell in but the water also contains acid which immediately began to eat away at his skin.
“After five minutes the heat would have caused him to go into shock,” he added.
Watch the video below:
The YouTuber said that the water was “too hot” to reach Colin’s body, however, it was reported that the late man’s body could not be recovered safely due to the “volatile” nature of the thermal area and an incoming lightning storm.
“The acid and heat had completely caused his body to dissolve leaving nothing but his wallet and his shoes,” the video concluded.
Usually, the water temperatures at the basin are around 199F, but during the attempt to retrieve the victim’s body, the pool was measured at a scorching 212F, which is the boiling point, per The Mirror.
Yellowstone’s deputy chief ranger Lorant Veress told KULR 8, which broke the story, that the whole area is “geothermally active,” adding: “There’s a closure in place to protect people from doing that for their own safety. It’s a very unforgiving environment.”
US park ranger Phil Strehle wrote in a report that Colin was determined deceased “due to the report of the individual not previously visible, a lack of movement, suspected extreme temperatures, and indications of several thermal burns”.
Strehle reported spotting a V-neck T-shirt and “what appeared to be a cross was visible and resting on the subject’s face” in a separate account.
According to BBC News, it is suspected that the man had been completely dissolved overnight, with the report adding: “The consensus among the rescue/recovery team…was that the extreme heat of the hot spring, coupled with its acidic nature, dissolved the remains.”
Colin’s sister unintentionally filmed the moment he fell in and her efforts to rescue him. Officials chose not to release this footage.
