Human foot found in Yellowstone hot spring ID'd as that of 70-year-old LA man
Abyss Pool and the surrounding landscape at the West Thumb Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, June, 2015. Image courtesy Diane Renkin/Yellowstone National Park. (Photo via Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images).
MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS, Wyo. - The human foot discovered in a hot spring at Yellowstone National Park in August was identified as a Los Angeles man's, according to the National Park Service.
Officials said the foot belonged to 70-year-old Il Hun Ro based on DNA analysis conducted over the past few weeks. His family has been notified.
The foot was found in a shoe floating in Abyss Pool located in the West Thumb Geyser Basin, officials said.
It is not clear how Ro ended up in the spring, but investigators do not suspect foul play and concluded that whatever happened to Ro happened on the morning of July 31. There were no witnesses.
The circumstances of Ro's death remain unknown "based on a lack of evidence," officials said, and the investigation was closed.
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.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.