San Diego – Police say the body of a woman, thought to be 50 years old, who went missing on a San Diego trail after getting separated from her group during a heat wave on Sunday was found just outside of a crowded area.
A news conference held near the search area by San Diego Police Lt. Daniel Meyer on Monday morning said that the body of an Asian lady, thought to be Diem Le Nguyen, was found off a trail at 9:15 a.m. while a helicopter searched Black Mountain.
“She was a quarter-mile away from a population, from reaching a street,” said Meyer. “She nearly made it out.”
Meyer said that just before the body was found, a hat that Nguyen was thought to be wearing at the time of her absence was also found.
Police say Nguyen was hiking on Black Mountain’s Nighthawk Trail with a group of about 100 people, including family and friends. At around 8 a.m., the group stopped where it was on the trail.
FOX5 San Diego says the group was taking part in a yearly event to raise money for the Build a School Foundation.
Police say Nguyen left the group and went up to the peak by herself from there.
Reporters were told that around 10 a.m., Nguyen made a “phone call of distress” to her family, telling them she was very hot and needed water. No one had heard from Nguyen since then.
Meyer said that search and rescue teams with planes, dogs, drones, and ground teams were sent right away to find Nguyen because of the phone call and the high temperature in the mountains.
California officials warned that inland San Diego would have high temperatures over the weekend, and the National Weather Service put out a warning for parts of Southern California for excessive heat through Sunday.
“Obviously it’s a very painful moment for the family and friends,” he said. “It’s really important for the community to come together and support this family as they go through this traumatic time.”
Meyer said that the Medical Examiner’s Office will look into the death and help confirm who the body belongs to.
