The Last Known Trail: Lily Hooper Reached Bonnum Pic and Sent Messages Before Her Car Was Found Abandoned Near the Hiking Track
The father of missing hiker Lily Hooper has made an emotional appeal amid a major search for the teen.
There has been no trace of the experienced bushwalker, 18, since she vanished in the NSW Southern Highlands area on Wednesday.
As 2SM host Tim Webster took calls on Monday, a tearful man who identified as Hooper’s father phoned in to ask for love and energy from the community.
“We’re going to find her today. I’m going back there now. I’m just putting my boots on,” he said.
“I just want everyone to throw love and energy because we’ve got to go and find her. We’ve got to find this kid.
“She’s got to be in there somewhere.”
The father urged everyone to “cross their fingers and hope we find her today because it’s getting too long”.
“It’s like she’s just … vanished off the planet. I don’t know. I just can’t make it out. Normally they’d find something — I don’t want to think of the worst,” he said.
“She’s a tough kid, she’s a tough girl.”
Hooper left her home in Oakdale about 8am on Wednesday to go hiking in Nattai National Park.
It is understood she reached the summit of Bonnum Pic about mid-morning and had messaged loved ones while on the trail.
She was reported missing when she had not returned home by 10pm that night.
Her car was found parked on Wanganderry Rd, near the start of the trail about an hour later.
“Unfortunately we have not located Lily or any items belonging to Lily,” chief inspector Brendan Bernie told media on Monday, as the extensive search involving specialist police, air wing, the SES, RFS and VRA Rescue continued.
A weekend of poor weather had hampered already challenging conditions for search teams.
Authorities say there is no evidence of foul play and cautioned that speculation along those lines “does cause undue distress to the family and friends of Lily”.
The SES said “there’s no stone being left unturned” by teams searching “incredibly arduos” terrain, including deep ravines, creek lines and cliff sides.
Bernie said the national park is vast but that rescuers have narrowed their scope “to a much smaller area” in the Bonnum Pic trail area.
“We are treating this as a search and rescue operation. Lily is an experienced bushwalker,” Bernie said.
“We’re relying on her experience to get her through this ordeal and we are still hoping that she’ll be found alive and safe.”
It is still unclear what resources she may have been carrying at the time but police are hopeful she had some equipment to “aid her survival”.
“She’s an 18 year old, she’s very fit and she’s an experienced bushwalker and we’re hoping that holds her in good stead,” Bernie said, adding: “we’ll be here as long as it takes.”
Recreations site AllTrails describes Bonnum Pic as a “formidable challenge” for experienced bushwalkers “seeking a rugged wilderness test”.
“The route follows a dramatic sandstone ridgeline but requires significant self-reliance, as post-fire regrowth has made the trail overgrown and difficult to identify, often necessitating heavy bush bashing through prickly scrub,” the site says.
Hooper is described as caucasian and about 175cm tall with a slim build, long blonde hair and blue eyes.
She was last seen wearing a shirt and shorts.
Anyone with information about Hooper’s whereabouts, or walked the Bonnum Pic Walking Trail since Wednesday, is urged to contact Moss Vale Police Station or Crime Stoppers.
