Family Mourning Loss Of NJ Man Who Died While Hiking In Arizona

All lovers of the outdoors are always chomping at the bit in anticipation of their next adventure. Unfortunately, for one New Jersey couple, their latest adventure out west proved to be fatal.

A couple from New Jersey were excited to set out on a pretty popular hike while vacationing out in Arizona earlier this month. Multiple reports detail the day's events, mentioning that it started out as one of endless possibilities for Christopher Dyer and his girlfriend, Zoey Russomanno. That day would prove to be the worst day of their lives after the 27-year-old man died on the trail.

Get our free mobile app

According to a few accounts of what happened, Dyer's family had heard from the couple in the morning right before the pair set out on the Black Mesa Trail, which leads to the Dutchman Trail Loop out in the Phoenix metropolitan area. He had sent them a picture of himself and Russomanno, letting them know that they were about to head out for the day. Apparently, the family had one more correspondence with him before the worst happened.

Dyer collapsed, and neither he nor Russomanno had any cell service. Russomanno did the only thing she could think of: she left to try to get some help. She did, however, leave Dyer with his phone in case he came to and was able to call for help before she was. That didn't work out as Russomanno hoped since she wound up getting lost and eating cactus to sustain herself. Someone finally walked by and was able to assist both Russomanno and Dyer, but by that point, it was too late.

Dyer didn't even make it to the hospital before being pronounced dead.

Now, his sister, Erin Zomorsky, is pleading with people to understand the risks that accompany hiking in those kinds of temperatures. Her brother isn't the only hiker to perish as a result of the high temperatures this summer while on Arizona trails. As a matter of fact, he would be the third out-of-towner to lose his life as a result of those elements.

Christopher Dyer's cause of death is still unknown, but his family is determined to get the word out to all those who aren't used to hiking in that kind of weather. Even people from that area say it's not wise to venture out onto any strenuous trails in anything over 100 degrees.

Sources: Fox10phoenix.com, AZCentral.com

Dying while hiking is a pretty terrifying scenario. What are the odds that these 50 totally random events will happen to you?

Stacker took the guesswork out of 50 random events to determine just how likely they are to actually happen. They sourced their information from government statistics, scientific articles, and other primary documents. Keep reading to find out why expectant parents shouldn't count on due dates -- and why you should be more worried about dying on your birthday than living to 100 years old.

LOOK: See how much gasoline cost the year you started driving

To find out more about how has the price of gas changed throughout the years, Stacker ran the numbers on the cost of a gallon of gasoline for each of the last 84 years. Using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (released in April 2020), we analyzed the average price for a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline from 1976 to 2020 along with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for unleaded regular gasoline from 1937 to 1976, including the absolute and inflation-adjusted prices for each year.

Read on to explore the cost of gas over time and rediscover just how much a gallon was when you first started driving.

RANKED: Here are the most popular national parks

To determine the most popular national parks in the United States, Stacker compiled data from the National Park Service on the number of recreational visits each site had in 2020. Keep reading to discover the 50 most popular national parks in the United States, in reverse order from #50 to #1. And be sure to check with individuals parks before you visit to find out about ongoing, pandemic-related safety precautions at www.nps.gov/coronavirus.