Emergency services are conducting an extensive search in South Australian bushland for a 66-year-old woman who went missing on Tuesday. The woman was hiking with a friend at Mount Remarkable in the state's Mid North when she failed to return home.
The friend reportedly decided to return to the town of Wilmington around 4 p.m. Tuesday, leaving the woman from New South Wales to continue to the summit alone. An alarm was raised at 9:15 p.m. Tuesday after she did not return. A police helicopter, PolAir, was dispatched to the area to begin an overnight search, which was joined by ground teams from the State Emergency Service (SES) and police patrols.
This morning, a multi-agency search involving police, Mounted Operations, and SES volunteers continued. Volunteers are contending with wet conditions in the area due to recent rainfall, which has left some trails damp and waterlogged. SES North duty officer Ben Birbeck noted the challenging weather.
The search area, located in the Southern Flinders Ranges, is approximately a three-and-a-half-hour drive north of Adelaide. The incident follows a recent case in New South Wales where 18-year-old Lily Hooper was found after going missing for eight days while hiking in Nattai National Park.
