Elderly man found dead in desert in Buckeye, death possibly heat-related

PHOENIX — An elderly man was found dead in the desert Sunday in Buckeye, and authorities believe his death may have been heat-related.

Around 1:45 p.m., a woman reported that her husband didn’t show up where they planned to meet after he went on a bike ride in the Sun City Festival neighborhood, the Buckeye Police Department said.

The wife told police her husband, identified later as 73-year-old James Van de Voorde, called her earlier in the day telling her his bike got a flat tire in the desert area west of the fire station on Wagner Complex Drive.

He told his wife he would walk to the fire station, where she could pick him up, police said.

Police and fire crews searched the area after getting the wife’s report and found Van de Voorde’s body in the desert.

While police said the death appears to be heat-related, the medical examiner’s office will determine the official cause.

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