Lily Hooper, the 18-year-old hiker found dead after more than a week missing in the bush in New South Wales, Australia, died on the day she failed to return home, her family have said.
Her mother also revealed that she was found by a State Emergency Service (SES) volunteer, “lying
peacefully in dense bushland”.
It is believed that the teenager had a fall and died on the same afternoon she went missing.
“Preliminary reports have said Lily had a fall, she had an accident that first afternoon, she died the day she went missing and was found lying peacefully in dense bushland,” the grieving mum, Kerrily Hooper, told the Daily Telegraph in Australia.
The mother said the family went through a “surreal time” during the days before Lily was found, “waiting and not knowing, hoping each day would be the day she came out … then getting really upset every afternoon, getting close to dark, knowing it was going to be another night with her out there in the elements,” she said.
“In hindsight we now know she passed quickly and she didn’t suffer in the cold.”
An internal investigation will take place to figure out what caused the breakdown in communication that led to authorities first announcing that Lily had been found alive.
NSW Police Force Assistant Commissioner Joseph Cassar has confirmed that, for a “eight to ten-minute” period, Lily’s parents believed she was alive, after they were told wrong information.
In a previous interview, her father, Jim Hooper, said the family is not angry at authorities over the mix-up.
“I’m not cross, the police threw the kitchen sink at finding Lily,” he told the Daily Telegraph.
The teenage hiker’s body was found on August 20, eight days after she disappeared in Sydney bushland.
She had left home in Oakdale, southwest Sydney, more than a week earlier, for a planned hike in Nattai National Park.
Her family reported her missing later that night when she had not returned.
Nearly 100 Australian Defence Force personnel were deployed to help the multi-agency search effort, which involved trail bikes, horses, dogs and helicopters.
A cause of death has not yet been released.
