Longview archaeologist dies while working

NATCHITOCHES PARISH, La. — A 24-year-old Longview woman died on her first day on the job working at an archaeological site, and officials say the cause could be heat-related. According to our news partner KETK, Kaylen Eileen Gehrke, formally of Missoula, Montana, recently moved to Longview to be closer to family as she advanced her career with Shreveport Cultural Resource Analysts, officials said. She graduated from high school in 2016 in Colorado and earned a bachelor’s degree in forensic anthropology and a minor in Spanish-English bilingual from the University of Montana. She was with two coworkers doing archeological surveys in the Kisatchie National Forest for the U.S. Forest Service when things turned tragic on Monday, July 11 around 2:15 p.m.

The Natchitoches Parish Sheriff’s Deputies, U.S. Forest Service Rangers, Natchitoches Parish Fire District #4 First Responders and Natchitoches Regional Medical Center EMS responded to reports of a female hiker possibly suffering from heat exhaustion or a stroke off of Forest Service Road #321 Bayou Camp Road. Responding units learned that the two coworkers performed continuous CPR on Kaylen until help arrived. Shortly after arriving on the scene, EMS tried to continue resuscitation efforts but determined that Kaylen was dead, according to officials. Natchitoches Parish Asst. Coroner Steven Clanton pronounced Kaylen dead on the scene.

Clanton said there was no sign of foul play, but her body is being taken to Shreveport for autopsy to determine the manner of death, which officials said could be heat-related. Reports from the Shreveport National Weather Service in the area said the temperature was 98 degrees with heat indices near 107 degrees. Kaylen was conducting a survey when she suddenly became ill, authorities said.