{"id":72052,"date":"2026-08-14T11:15:21","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T11:15:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/72052\/"},"modified":"2026-08-14T11:15:21","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T11:15:21","slug":"police-very-hopeful-of-finding-teenage-hiker-lily-hooper-missing-in-nattai-national-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/72052\/","title":{"rendered":"Police \u2018very hopeful\u2019 of finding teenage hiker Lily Hooper missing in Nattai National Park"},"content":{"rendered":"

An experienced teenage bushwalker was messaging her family from a hike before she suddenly vanished in rugged bushland the NSW Southern Highlands<\/a> area.<\/p>\n

Lily Hooper, 18, left her home on Burragorang Rd in Oakdale about 8am on Wednesday to go hiking in Nattai National Park.<\/p>\n

NSW Police Detective Inspector Ben Bowles said the experienced bushwalker had been texting her family about the hike but was now \u201cwell overdue from her anticipated completion time\u201d.<\/p>\n

Her vehicle was later found at the beginning of the Bonnum Pic walking trail along Wanganderry Rd.<\/p>\n

A major multi-agency search was launched that evening and continued on Friday.<\/p>\n

Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today Arrow<\/a><\/p>\n

Bowles said police remained \u201cvery hopeful\u201d Lily would be found.<\/p>\n

He said there was no information to suggest foul play was involved but authorities did not know what supplies Lily had with her.<\/p>\n

\"PolicePolice described Lily as an experienced bushwalker. Credit: Social media<\/p>\n

A number of agencies are involved in the search, including NSW Police Rescue, PolAir, the Westpac Rescue Helicopter, the SES, NSW Ambulance, Fire and Rescue NSW and the Rural Fire Service.<\/p>\n

Crews are facing \u201cfairly rugged\u201d terrain and \u201cquite extensive and rough bushland\u201d, Bowles said.<\/p>\n

Lily\u2019s aunt, Sheridan Munro, said the family was \u201cdesperately trying to find her\u201d.<\/p>\n

According to the teenager\u2019s social media, she returned last week from Thailand where she had been taking Muay Thai lessons.<\/p>\n

NSW Premier Chris Minns said he was \u201cpraying for good news\u201d as the search continued.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur heart goes out to that young walker\u2019s family,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know this must be heartbreaking and incredibly anxious.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m praying for good news.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bowles said Lily\u2019s disappearance was also a timely reminder for people heading into the bush to tell others about their plans and carry appropriate safety equipment.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a timely reminder to ensure that you lodge your trip intentions, notify family, loved ones of your intentions and make sure that you have the correct supplies, clothing, food and water, communication devices,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe always encourage people to ensure that they\u2019ve got an EPIRB or satellite phone with them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lily is described as being of Caucasian appearance, about 175cm tall, of slim build, and long blonde hair and blue eyes. <\/p>\n

She was last seen wearing a shirt and shorts. <\/p>\n

Anyone with information on Lily\u2019s whereabouts, or walked the Bonnum Pic Walking Trail yesterday, is urged to contact Moss Vale Police Station or Crime Stoppers.<\/p>\n

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<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An experienced teenage bushwalker was messaging her family from a hike before she suddenly vanished in rugged bushland…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":72053,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[22,21,312,1953,152,2021],"class_list":["post-72052","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-austrlia","tag-crime","tag-missing-person","tag-news","tag-nsw-police"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72052","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72052"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72052\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72053"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}