Experts are warning tourists who ride ATVs across Southern Nevada’s desert about potentially deadly safety hazards after a fourth woman died in the region’s extreme heat.
Chynna Otero-Aqueron, 32, of New York, was the latest visitor to die from heat-related illness in Las Vegas. Her ATV overturned at Nellis Dunes in August.
Otero-Aqueron and her friend, Tatiana Gavila, were stranded in 108-degree heat as they tried to tell a 911 operator where they were, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
The women were taking an unguided tour with Las Vegas Outdoor Fun while Otero-Aqueron was visiting Gavila, who began experiencing heatstroke symptoms.
Gavila complained that it felt as though ants were crawling over her body before receiving medical treatment when rescuers arrived, according to the Review-Journal.
Otero-Aqueron, described as a devoted mother of three young children, died from environmental heat stress and blunt-force injuries, the outlet reported.
“Chynna leaves behind a family who will miss her deeply, as well as friends and community members who admired her strength, beauty, and passion for life,” her obituary said.
Otero-Aqueron’s death came one month after another woman, Lashawn Ashe, died in July. Ashe, 33, had recently relocated to Dallas from New York City when she visited her uncle, Darryl Taylor, in Las Vegas.
Chynna Otero-Aqueron, 32, of New York, died after her ATV overturned during an August ride across Nellis Dunes, with investigators citing heat illness and blunt-force injuries
The lawsuit alleges that the Bureau of Land Management failed to stop companies operating without permits. Commercial vehicle rentals require a permit when operators use paid advertising or charge fees, according to the BLM
Earlier that year, the Bureau of Land Management sent The ATV Xperience a cease-and-desist letter ordering the company to stop all “non-permitted activities”
Ashe had suggested the ATV excursion as a way to bond with her uncle’s new wife and stepdaughter, whom she had never met.
The group gathered at Mandalay Bay on the Las Vegas Strip, signed a waiver and then headed toward White Hills, Arizona, the outlet reported.
Ashe booked the excursion through Bullets and Burgers, a tour company and machine-gun shooting range owned by Russell Mann that operates several sites across the Mojave Desert, according to the Review-Journal.
Mann’s company currently has an active permit for guided tours at Nellis Dunes. However, the outlet reported that it is unclear whether the company’s Arizona tours are also permitted.
The company’s most popular routes reportedly depart from the Last Stop Gas Station in White Hills and Las Vegas Outdoor Adventures at Nellis Dunes.
Ashe was scheduled to take a half-day tour through the Mojave Desert, but her uncle recalled that half the group—including his niece—began falling well behind.
Taylor told the outlet that he found Ashe lying on the ground while others tried to give her water and Gatorade. He stayed with her as they waited for assistance, while the guide took the rest of the group back to the base, roughly 45 minutes away, the Review-Journal reported.
When a guide eventually returned in a four-seater, the skin around Ashe’s knees had begun peeling and she had lost consciousness as her body temperature rose sharply, Taylor said.
Lashawn Ashe, 33, had recently moved to Dallas from New York City to visit her uncle in Las Vegas. A firefighter said the skin on her leg had begun to peel because she “was so hot” before she died of hyperthermia
Former employees reportedly described Bullets and Burgers, owned by Russell Mann, as careless and focused on profits, with safety taking a lower priority
The guide and Taylor struggled to place Ashe in the vehicle. About an hour later, another guide arrived with two volunteer firefighters from Mohave County, her uncle recalled.
By then, Ashe’s leg had begun to peel because she “was so hot,” one firefighter told a sheriff’s deputy, according to the outlet. Ashe later died of hyperthermia.
“She didn’t need to die that day. She didn’t. That never should have happened,” Brad Campbell, a former employee who worked for Mann for 12 years, told the outlet.
Campbell said guides should have, at minimum, CPR certification and argued that companies should not conduct tours during the hottest part of summer.
Ashe’s family plans to file a wrongful-death lawsuit, their attorney, Charlie Jackson, told the outlet.
Mann’s company has also faced allegations involving past mismanagement and scandal. According to the Review-Journal, Mann is a convicted felon who was sentenced to five years in prison in the 2000s for helping defraud investors of about $10.5 million through wireless cable television systems.
The company was also linked to a 2014 incident in which a nine-year-old girl fatally shot her instructor with a Mini Uzi machine gun. Former employees have described a careless, profit-driven workplace that placed revenue ahead of safety.
The planned lawsuit against Mann’s company follows another similar tragedy in 2023.
Eleesha Dorsey, 31, booked an ATV excursion with The ATV Xperience during the hottest month of the year, when temperatures in the desert reached about 110 degrees. Her internal body temperature later climbed to 115 degrees
Eleesha Dorsey, 31, organized an ATV outing for her brother’s bachelor party in Las Vegas. The celebration ended in tragedy after her internal body temperature rose to 115 degrees.
Dorsey searched online for activities for the July 2023 trip and found an ATV excursion at Nellis Dunes, near the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the Review-Journal reported.
The tour, booked with The ATV Xperience, took place during the hottest month of the year, when desert temperatures reached about 110 degrees, according to the outlet.
After a brief safety briefing at approximately 2:30 p.m., Dorsey entered the desert. About an hour into the excursion, she returned to the base and said she was feeling unwell.
When a friend and fellow bachelor-party guest realized Dorsey was missing, he searched for her and found her unconscious on the floor.
Eric Fruits performed chest compressions for about 17 minutes while receiving instructions from a 911 operator, but Dorsey could not be revived.
The Clark County Coroner reported that her internal body temperature eventually reached 115 degrees.
“This is a life that was taken,” Dorsey’s mother, Grace Dorsey Edwards, said.
“A life that was lost that didn’t have to be lost. What really angered me the most is that it’s almost as though life didn’t matter.”
Joe Haldiman said land-management rangers allegedly reprimanded employees for leaving company property. According to Haldiman, staff were told they were “not allowed to step foot on our land. If someone needs help, too bad”
Rickey Ware, owner of The ATV Xperience, testified in a sworn deposition that rangers allowed him to rent ATVs provided he did not conduct guided tours or enter Bureau of Land Management property
A GoFundMe campaign described Dorsey as “a cherished daughter, sister, friend, aunt, and co-worker.”
“Eleesha’s bright presence brought joy and comfort to all who knew her. Her life may have been cut short, but her impact will continue to resonate in our hearts,” the fundraiser said.
Earlier that year, the Bureau of Land Management had sent The ATV Xperience a cease-and-desist letter ordering the company to stop all “non-permitted activities,” according to the Review-Journal’s investigation.
Rickey Ware, the company’s owner, said in a sworn deposition that rangers told him he could rent ATVs as long as he did not operate guided tours or enter BLM land, the Review-Journal reported.
Fruits told the 911 operator that their guide had said another person, Nakeia Cole, had died just two weeks before Dorsey’s death.
Cole, 42, was a nurse from Ohio who was visiting with her husband, Steven, in hopes of resolving marital difficulties, her sister, Alona Carter, told the outlet.
On July 8, 2023, the couple traveled approximately 21 miles from their Strip hotel to Las Vegas Outdoor Fun, according to a police report obtained by the Review-Journal.
Cole later called the company to say she was lost. An employee advised her to reach the highest point she could find and drive toward Las Vegas Boulevard.
Nakeia Cole, 42, called Las Vegas Outdoor Fun after becoming lost. About 90 minutes later, she was found unresponsive at what appeared to be a crash site
Her husband returned on his ATV and said Cole had sped ahead, leaving him behind, according to the coroner’s report reviewed by the outlet.
About 90 minutes after Cole called the company—and after employees unsuccessfully tried to reach her three times—an employee found her unresponsive at what appeared to be a crash site.
Emergency responders found that Cole’s stomach had been discolored by the sun, while her eyes and ears were filled with sand. The coroner determined that she died from heat illness and blunt-force injuries sustained in the crash.
“Nikki was a strong, beautiful devoted wife and mother whose smile could brighten any room. Despite being a loner, she genuinely loved people, especially her family and friends,” her obituary said.
Las Vegas Outdoor Fun owner Joe Haldiman said he wanted to provide guides or staff to monitor tours but had been denied a required special recreation permit several times, the outlet reported.
Haldiman said BLM rangers allegedly reprimanded employees for leaving the company’s property. According to him, rangers told staff they were “not allowed to step foot on our land. If someone needs help, too bad.”
Haldiman said the bureau had allowed him to continue operating tours without a permit, but added that officials never contacted him about Cole’s or Otero-Aqueron’s deaths.
“We’re going to continue doing the best we can so these folks don’t have this problem ever again,” Haldiman said.
Las Vegas Outdoor Fun owner Joe Haldiman said he wanted guides or staff to supervise the excursions but had repeatedly been denied the required special recreation permit
“We didn’t do anything wrong, and we don’t want someone to pass away who rents our vehicles. Just like a rental car company doesn’t want someone to pass away when they rent their vehicles.”
Edwards, Dorsey’s mother, has accused the BLM, ATV operators and ticketing platform Viator of failing to introduce safety measures designed to protect riders, according to a federal wrongful-death lawsuit reported by the outlet.
The lawsuit argues that the BLM failed to shut down companies operating without the required permits, the Review-Journal reported.
The regulations require permits for commercial vehicle rentals, which the BLM defines as operations that use paid advertising or collect fees.
“I felt doing nothing was not an option,” Edwards said. “If doing something, making a loud cry, can cause somebody to be saved, then it’s worth it.”
Viator’s attorneys responded that Dorsey had failed to protect her own safety, an argument they said outweighed the company’s alleged responsibility for negligence.
Our News Outlet contacted Viator, the Bureau of Land Management, The ATV Xperience and Las Vegas Outdoor Fun for comment.
