Sally Menke, the friend and collaborator of Quentin Tarantino who edited all his films, was found dead on a hiking trail in Los Angeles early on Tuesday morning [27]. She was 56.

Menke, who earlier this year earned a second Oscar nomination for Inglourious Basterds after she was nominated for Pulp Fiction in 1995, had gone for a walk with a friend on what turned out to be the hottest day in Los Angeles since records began.

When she became separated from her friend and did not return home on Monday night, police launched a major search and her body was discovered in Griffith Park. Temperatures in Los Angeles reached 113 degrees on Monday.

An autopsy will take place to determine whether other health factors contributed to her demise. Menke’s husband is understood to have been out town when the incident happened and was flying home to Los Angeles.

Menke’s credits include every Tarantino film as well as Oliver Stone’s Heaven & Earth and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Speaking to Screen last year about her collaboration with Tarantino, Menke said: “We’ve been working together for 18 years - unbelievable! Quentin said he didn’t know where his ideas begin and mine end, and vice versa. We have become somewhat joined at the hip. But we differ creatively enough so there’s always a growth.

“I consider myself so darn lucky to work with this guy who pushes me into new genres and pushes me deeper into subject matter and characters.”