Authorities believe foot found in scalding pool in Yellowstone is connected to death in July

By Phil HelselNBC

A piece of human foot found this month in a Yellowstone National Park hot spring may belong to a person who died on July 31, the National Park Service said Friday.

A Yellowstone employee

, one of the deepest hot springs in Yellowstone.

“Evidence from our investigation thus far suggests that an incident involving a person occurred on the morning of July 31, 2022 at Abyss Pool,” the park service said in a statement.

“Currently, the park believes that this is not a crime.”

Investigators are working to determine the circumstances of death, according to the statement.

Park representatives said Friday that they cannot share more information about the case at this time.

The hot springs of Abyss Pool, in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.Getty Images

The hot springs at Abyss Pool have a temperature of around 140 degrees and are among the deepest in Yellowstone, reaching a depth of more than 50 feet.

Since 1890, there have been at least 22 deaths from boiling hot springs in Yellowstone, park officials said in 2016, when an Oregon man fell into one of these basins to his death.

The 23-year-old Portland man slipped and fell into a pool near Porkchop Geyser.

Other recent incidents at the 2.2 million-acre park have resulted in injuries.

Two people were injured after falling into the hot springs last year, including a 20-year-old woman who

after entering Maiden's Grave Spring to save her dog.

The animal was rescued, but later died.

In Yellowstone National Park there are around 10,000 hydrothermal basins and more than 500 of them are geysers, as the hollows of volcanic origin from which steam, gases and very hot water sprout are called.