{"id":901706,"date":"2026-06-29T22:24:24","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T22:24:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/901706\/"},"modified":"2026-06-29T22:24:24","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T22:24:24","slug":"coroner-rules-hikers-death-in-mount-canobolas-bushland-not-suspicious-praises-12-day-search","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/901706\/","title":{"rendered":"Coroner rules hiker’s death in Mount Canobolas bushland not suspicious, praises 12-day search"},"content":{"rendered":"

Emergency service crews have been praised for their “persistence” during the 12-day search for a hiker who set off on an ill-fated midnight mountain walk in sub-zero temperatures while wearing sandals and a blouse.<\/p>\n

NSW Deputy State Coroner Rebecca Hosking has found the death of Esther Marie Wallace in the Mount Canobolas State Conservation Area in December 2022 was not suspicious.<\/p>\n

She found it was “abundantly clear” the search operation combed the “arduous terrain” near Orange, in the state’s Central West, with the hope of finding the 47-year-old alive.<\/p>\n

“Even after it was clear that Esther was not going to be found alive, the dedicated officers and volunteers continued the search well beyond the period a search would ordinarily be terminated,” she determined.<\/p>\n

\"Green<\/p>\n

The search for Ms Wallace included specialist teams to navigate the technical terrain. (ABC News: Lani Oataway)<\/p>\n

“They recovered Esther so the mourning and grieving process of Esther’s family could run its full course.”<\/p>\n

Missing in freezing conditions<\/p>\n

Ms Wallace and her partner Alan Smith drove to the Mount Canobolas Lookout late in the evening of November 29, 2022.<\/p>\n

Judge Hosking found they had smoked marijuana earlier that night.<\/p>\n

The pair made their way to the Federal Falls car park and embarked on the 4-kilometre loop walk about midnight.<\/p>\n

The court heard it was minus 4-degrees Celsius at the time.<\/p>\n

\"Green<\/p>\n

Esther Wallace was last seen walking the Federal Falls trail with her partner. (ABC News: Lani Oataway)<\/p>\n

Ms Wallace left her phone and handbag in Mr Smith’s car, and the court heard she slipped several times on the trail in her sandals.<\/p>\n

After reaching Federal Falls about 1am, the duo began walking back to the car but veered off the trail.<\/p>\n

“Esther became scared and started to panic,” Judge Hosking noted in her findings, which were handed down late last week.<\/p>\n

“They continued uphill but a short time later Esther sat down and refused to move.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As the sun started to rise, the pair argued about where the path was and Mr Smith left Ms Wallace sitting on his orange hi-vis jacket with a torch while he hiked uphill.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Esther Wallace’s body was found on a Sunday afternoon in bushland near the walking trail in December 2022. (Supplied)<\/p>\n

He returned twice to convince her to join him but she refused.<\/p>\n

Mr Smith arrived at the car park, charged his phone, and walked back down to find her.<\/p>\n

He reported her missing just before 8am.<\/p>\n

Large-scale search launched<\/p>\n

NSW Police officers and NSW State Emergency Service (SES) personnel began searching for Ms Wallace soon after and set up a command post at the Federal Falls campground.<\/p>\n

\"Green<\/p>\n

Emergency services were combing a 5-kilometre radius from where Esther Wallace was last seen. (ABC News: Lani Oataway)<\/p>\n

Officers determined one of her last locations in the snow gum forest and described it as steep and “extremely arduous” with “dense tree canopy”.<\/p>\n

Visibility was limited and in areas it was less than a metre.<\/p>\n

Across the next 12 days, the operation recruited members of the police, SES, the National Parks and Wildlife Service, the Rural Fire Service and Forestry Corporation NSW.<\/p>\n

The search party navigated the technical terrain on foot, patrolled forestry roads and ordered several aerial searches over the bushland and surrounding pine forests.<\/p>\n

\"Green<\/p>\n

NSW Police launched a large scale search for the 47-year-old mother in the State Conservation Area. (ABC News: Lani Oataway)<\/p>\n

On day five, the orange hi-vis jacket Ms Wallace was sitting on and her black headband were found.<\/p>\n

Four days later the white blouse she was wearing was discovered, and the day after her red underwear and Mr Smith’s torch were found to the east of Federal Falls.<\/p>\n

Body discovered<\/p>\n

On the final day of the search, the SES specialist Bush Search and Rescue unit was sent with police officers to areas of interest not previously searched.<\/p>\n

They detected a smell they thought could be coming from a dead body.<\/p>\n

\"Green<\/p>\n

The 3.4km Federal Falls loop weaves down steep slopes to reach the waterfall running down volcanic rock. (ABC News: Lani Oataway)<\/p>\n

Line searches were conducted throughout the day near the odour, which led to the discovery of Esther Wallace’s remains later that afternoon.<\/p>\n

She was found wearing a black bra and long active-wear pants that were inside out, about 150 metres from a fire trail.<\/p>\n

Her body was covered by fallen logs and displayed signs of decomposition.<\/p>\n

A forensic examination of her remains determined her death was not the result of suspicious circumstances.<\/p>\n

‘Appropriate’ search<\/p>\n

Judge Hosking found the search for the 47-year-old was adequately resourced and appropriately conducted.<\/p>\n

“The persons and teams deployed were suitably qualified and equipped given the arduous terrain and the complexity of the search areas,” she concluded.<\/p>\n

\"Green<\/p>\n

Police officers described some of the terrain as “extremely arduous” with “dense tree canopy”. (ABC News: Lani Oataway)<\/p>\n

She could not determine the cause of Ms Wallace’s death, although listed factors such as exposure, hypothermia and dehydration as plausible explanations.<\/p>\n

“Esther became lost in dense bushland at night,” she found.<\/p>\n

“Despite the best efforts [of all involved], Esther was unable to be located before she died.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Emergency service crews have been praised for their “persistence” during the 12-day search for a hiker who set…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":901707,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2],"tags":[365115,46367,4740,16848,211543,365113,37555,365110,365114,5811,365111,365112,50,16494,7207,5812,70365],"class_list":["post-901706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-12-days","tag-46367","tag-australia","tag-bush","tag-bushwalker","tag-bushwalking","tag-coroner","tag-esther-wallace","tag-federal-falls","tag-missing","tag-mount-canobolas","tag-mount-canobolas-state-conservation-area","tag-news","tag-orange","tag-police","tag-search","tag-ses"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116835744064587501","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/901706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=901706"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/901706\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/901707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=901706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=901706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=901706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}