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That’s basically it. Absolutely amazing story to be honest. This guy pieces together their tracks with very little info in a ridiculously huge chunk of uninhabited land near Death Valley. Truly a needle in a haystack story.

Some visiting tourists got stuck in Death Valley without enough water or food, and they tried to walk out but it's a vast, hot, dry place. No one could find their bodies for a long time. It's a great story, I remember reading it before.

> and they tried to walk out

From reading the story, the crucial mistake might have been made when their van got stuck: instead of trying to walk back to a shelter with spring water supply they knew about because they had been there on their way out, they walked deeper into the desert trying to reach a military area where they hoped to find soldiers. They walked way beyond the point of no return and didn't find soldiers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_Valley_Germans

This is an engrossing Sunday morning read. Highly recommend.