Police have confirmed that the remains of a woman, believed to be a 50-year-old hiker who went missing on a trail in a wilderness area in San Diego, have been discovered on Monday.
According to the San Diego Police Department, a hiker named Diem Le Nguyen went missing on Sunday morning while on the Nighthawk Trail in Black Mountain Open Space Park. She became separated from her group of approximately 100 hikers in the Rancho Peรฑasquitos area of north San Diego.
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According to the authorities, a body was sighted on Monday morning in the region where Nguyen had been hiking by a search helicopter.
According to the San Diego Police Department, Nguyen embarked on a hike with a group at approximately 8 a.m. PT. The group managed to reach the halfway point of the mountain, but due to the intense heat, many decided to head back down. Lieutenant Daniel Meyer shared this information during a news conference on Monday.
Meyer shared that Nguyen made the decision to proceed with the hike towards the mountain’s summit independently.
According to Meyer, Nguyen reached out to her relatives in a state of distress just after 10 a.m. from the end of the trail, indicating that she was feeling extremely hot and in dire need of water. Unfortunately, that was the last time anyone had any communication with her, as confirmed by Meyer.
Police were alerted and immediately responded to the scene on Sunday at around 11:30 a.m. In an effort to locate the individual, a search-and-rescue mission was initiated, which involved the deployment of the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department helicopter crew.
On X, police released a photo of Nguyen standing next to a trailhead sign while flashing a peace sign. The photo was taken on Sunday while he was hiking on the trail.
Authorities had appealed to the community for assistance in locating Nguyen, urging individuals with any knowledge of her location to immediately contact emergency services by dialing 911.
Over the weekend, Nguyen and her group embarked on a hiking adventure amidst the scorching heat in San Diego. The National Weather Service had already issued a heat advisory for the area, with temperatures reaching up to the low 90s on Sunday.
According to the police, despite the scorching heat, a few members of the hiking group chose to turn back, however, Nguyen was resolute in her goal to conquer the peak of the towering 4,048-foot Black Mountain.
Police reported that at the time of her disappearance, Nguyen was wearing a black shirt adorned with a pink heart on the front, along with black pants, a brown hat, sunglasses, and a backpack.
While the search for Nguyen was still underway on Monday, a hiker from California shared his story of survival after getting lost on a hike in the Santa Cruz Mountains in Northern California. The hiker expressed his gratitude for being found alive after spending 10 days in the wilderness before search and rescue teams were able to locate him.
Luke McClish, a 34-year-old resident of Boulder Creek, California, embarked on a hike on June 11 without informing anyone of his plans, thinking it would be a short trip. However, when he failed to show up for a Father’s Day dinner five days later, his family reported him missing. On Thursday, McClish was discovered at the bottom of a ravine. He informed rescuers that he lost 30 pounds during the 10 days he was missing and survived by drinking a gallon of creek water every day.
