French couple who died during New Mexico hike likely saved son by giving him their last water

The boy was dehydrated but in remarkably good shape when he was found alongside his dead father on a trail in the White Sands National Monument

(ddp USA/REX)

A French couple who died during an afternoon hike across the searing New Mexico desert likely saved their nine-year-old son by giving him two sips of water for each one they took before the supply ran out, a sheriff has said.

The boy was dehydrated but in remarkably good shape when he was found alongside his dead father on a trail in the White Sands National Monument, Otero County Sheriff Benny House said.

The father and son were found on 4 August about an hour after park rangers found the mother dead.

"That may be why he fared so well, as he was a lot smaller and probably had twice as much water," House said. "He was well hydrated, compared to the other two."

House identified the couple as David Steiner, 42, and his wife, Ornella Steiner, 51. The boy's name wasn't released. They were tourists from the small town of Bourgogne, near the city of Reims, France.

The couple appears to have died of heat-related causes, House said. An autopsy to determine the official cause of death was pending, according to the state medical investigator's office.

The family had two 20-ounce (566-gram) water bottles when they set out on the hike along the national monument's Alkali Flat trail at about 1 p.m., House said. The trail is known for crystalline-white sand dunes and ends at the edge of the Alkali Flat, an ancient dry lake bed.

AP