Cause of death for Mt. Wilson Trail confirmed – NBC Los Angeles

The death of a hiker on Mt. Wilson last Saturday was caused of a heart disease, the LA County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed Monday.

Mark Smythe, 53, was found unresponsive before 10 a.m. along Mt. Wilton Trail in Sierra Madre. When first responders reached Smythe, his friends and other hikers had been doing CRP on him.

The coroner’s office said the leading cause of his death was atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, also known as ASCVD, which is often caused by plaque buildup in arterial walls. The officials did not find anything suspicious about his death, ruling the manner of death was natural.

Smythe’s death came a week after man died from falling into a ravine from the same trailhead.