A heartbroken mother has revealed new details about her son's final moments before he died in remote Gold Coast bushland after a fall. Daniel Hidden, 26, was last seen leaving his Broadbeach home on the morning of June 14.
His family initially believed the avid hiker and camper had embarked on another solo adventure to one of his favorite spots, where he often ventured off the beaten track. However, two days later, Mr. Hidden's vehicle and caravan were found by police on the side of the road near a popular hiking area in the Gold Coast Hinterland.
This discovery prompted an eight-day search involving dozens of Australian Defence Force personnel. Mr. Hidden's body was ultimately found on June 24 near Cougal Cascades in Mount Cougal National Park.
According to authorities, his mother Faronak Jamshidi was told that her son accidentally fell and broke his hip while navigating rugged terrain. Unable to move and without his mobile phone, which he typically left at home during hikes, Mr. Hidden succumbed to hypothermia as overnight temperatures dropped as low as 5C.
"Because that area was hidden, nobody knew that area. He couldn't move and show himself to anybody," Ms. Jamshidi told 7news.com.au. She and the family remained near Mr. Hidden's abandoned caravan during the extensive search, holding onto hope.
Ms. Jamshidi previously shared that her son did not adhere to marked tracks and was drawn to exploring unexplored places. "We thought maybe if he came back, he needs help. He's tired, he's hungry. It was so cold," she recalled, haunted by the thought of her son being outside in the frigid night.
She takes solace in the fact that her son's final moments were spent near an off-track waterfall that held personal significance for him. The secluded area reminded him of Mount Tochal in Iran's Alborz mountain range, where Mr. Hidden, born Daniel Jamshidi, spent his childhood.
Ms. Jamshidi expressed ongoing distress over the unanswered question of how long her injured son lay alone before he died. "If he died early, at least I knew he didn’t suffer a lot," she said.
Mr. Hidden was a magician, mind reader, and cruise ship entertainer. He had amassed a significant following on Instagram, where his last post was shared on June 10, four days before his disappearance. Ms. Jamshidi extended her gratitude to everyone involved in the search efforts, which spanned numerous walking tracks extending to the New South Wales border.