Missing teen hiker, Emily Sotelo, found dead in frigid New Hampshire White Mountains
(Emily Sotelo, Image credit: NH Fish and Game Law Enforcement Division)
Three days ago, the State of New Hampshire’s Conservation Officers issued a plea to the public for any information seeking an overdue hiker. Nineteen year-old Emily Sotelo was dropped off Sunday morning, November 20, at Lafayette Place Campground in Franconia, with the intended hiking route of Mount Lafayette, Haystack and Flume. When she never returned from that hike, officials issued an alert and shared her description as being 5’3, 115 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes. She was last seen wearing a brown jacket, and exercise pants.
Three search teams were sent out to look for her on Sunday night, but temperatures along the ridge where she was hiking were about zero degrees with 30 to 40 mph winds, according to Pemigewasset Valley Search and Rescue Team, which helped with the search efforts. ~ ABC News
Yesterday, New Hampshire Fish and Game shared the tragic news that just after 11 a.m. on Wednesday, November 23, searchers discovered Emily’s lifeless body on the northwest side of Mount Lafayette in Franconia.
When Emily had not returned at the planned time from her hike, her mother notified NH Fish and Game. Due to the harsh weather conditions a search commenced Sunday evening and thru the night. Searchers were hampered by high winds, cold temperatures and blowing snow. Multiple groups of searchers spent the next two days looking for Emily.
On Wednesday, tracks and personal belongings led search crews to Sotelo’s body, which New Hampshire Fish and Game officials said was found at the headwaters of Lafayette Brook. ~ MSN
Searchers reached her body at 11:15 a.m. A New Hampshire Army National Guard helicopter was able to help with the extrication of her remains and transported her to the Cannon Mountain Ski Area.
Sotelo, who hailed from Massachusetts, was enrolled at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee as a sophomore. She was studying biochemistry and chemical biology. Emily would have celebrated her 20th birthday on Wednesday, the day her body was found, according to Fox News.
“The biggest lessons learned in a tragedy like this is when you’re hiking in New Hampshire, especially in the White Mountains, be prepared for the unexpected,” said Fish and Game Maj. David Walsh, according to The New York Post.
“Be prepared with knowledge. Know the weather conditions. Dress for the weather conditions. Have extra clothes. Have extra food, water. Have a headlamp map, a compass.”
For more on this very tragic tale, see the video accompanying this article.
(Source: NH Fish and Game Law Enforcement Division)
Posted by Richard Webster, Ace News Today / Follow Richard on Facebook and Twitter
