An 18-year-old woman who disappeared while hiking in the Australian bush has been found dead – minutes after officials mistakenly announced she had been located alive.
Lily Hooper disappeared after setting off on a hike in Nattai National Park, around 90 miles south-west of Sydney, on Wednesday, 12 August. Her family raised the alarm when she failed to return home.
A major search involving police, volunteers and around 100 soldiers was launched across the national park’s challenging terrain.
On Thursday, New South Wales Premier Chris Minns was attending a parliamentary hearing when he was handed a note apparently confirming that Lily had been found.
He announced to those present that the teenager had been “found alive”, with initial information suggesting she had been located in the bush with half a bottle of water.
However, the information was wrong.
Shortly afterwards, Minns was forced to correct the announcement and confirm that a body had instead been discovered.
He said the news was “obviously devastating” and expressed his sadness for Lily’s family and everyone involved in the search.
Lily had left her home in Oakdale, near Sydney, at around 8am on 12 August.
Her vehicle was discovered at approximately 11pm that evening at a picnic ground at the base of Bonnum Pic, a walking trail intended for experienced hikers.
Search teams faced dense eucalyptus forest, sandstone cliffs and deep ravines during the operation.
New South Wales Police Assistant Commissioner Joseph Cassar said Lily’s parents had initially also been told that rescuers believed their daughter had been found alive.
Search volunteers were experiencing communication difficulties in the thick terrain when they contacted the command post after locating her.
Around eight to ten minutes later, updated information confirmed that the person discovered had died, and Lily’s parents were informed.
Police and government officials are now investigating how the incorrect information came to be passed on.
The body had not been formally identified at the time of the report, although police believed it to be Lily.
New South Wales Police will prepare a report for the coroner.
