Found Deceased CA - Diem Le Nguyen, 50, Nighthawk Trail on Black Mountain, 23 June 2024

[RickshawFan]

Woman missing after hiking on Black Mountain

Diem Le Nguyen told her friends she reached the top of Nighthawk Trail on Black Mountain at 9:30 a.m. Sunday. She hasn't been seen or made contact since.

www.cbs8.com

San Diego Police are asking for the public's help finding a woman who is missing after hiking on Black Mountain Sunday morning.

Diem Le Nguyen was hiking with a group on Nighthawk Trail at 9711 Oviedo Way, police said on Twitter. When her group stopped halfway up the trail around 8 a.m., Diem continued on alone, police said.

Le Nguyen is a 50-year-old Asian woman about 5'1, with black hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a black shirt with a pink heart on the front, black pants, a brown hat, sunglasses and a backpack.

This is at the sign on the top of Black Mountain.

https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/california/black-mountain-via-nighthawk-trail-and-miners-ridge-trail-loop

 

[RickshawFan]

100 hikers? isn't that bizarre??

That's nuts! It might even be prohibited.

What was this "group"?

 

[imstilla.grandma]

The department held a news conference Monday to announce a body was found that matched the description of Diem Le Nguyen, who went missing while hiking the Nighthawk Trail at 9711 Oviedo Way. The Medical Examiner's office would determine if the body was indeed the missing hiker.

"At this point, it's obviously a very painful moment for the family and friends," SDPD Lt. Daniel Meyer said. "It's really important for the community to come together and support this family as they go through this traumatic time."

Body found amid search for missing hiker on Black Mountain trail

San Diego police believe they have found the body of a 50-year-old woman who went missing on Sunday while hiking on Black Mountain amid the region’s first heat wave of the summer.

www.nbcsandiego.com

 

[RickshawFan]

Actually, the trail I’m looking at takes only 2 hours to complete. That timing wouldn’t add up; if the rest of her group made it halfway at 8:00, it wouldn’t take her an hour and a half to make it to that summit. Unless she’s a really slow hiker, or the trail was jammed up by the crowd.

IMO she was at a trailhead when she texted that she was at the end of the trail. But she was texting because she couldn't find her friends there. She had the wrong trailhead. Speculation.

Then, she might have headed back up the trail to get to the correct trailhead. She could be anywhere.

FWIW pro tip: if she had an iphone 14 and up, if she dialed 911, it would call the satellite if there was no cell service. It also might dial 911 automatically if she fell. Satellite reception would be fab there, because the ground is practically bald.

 

[RickshawFan]

My understanding is that she was part of a small group of people she knows, who turned back halfway. But her small group was part of a larger group of 100 people, whom she did not know. Many of those hikers did make it to the peak.

Do you have a source? This could just be SM chat.

 

[RickshawFan]

A couple of quotes from this LINK

“Police say the woman was with a group of about 100 hikers and was seen in a livestream at the top of the mountain, but had become separated from the group. She hasn’t been seen since.”

“There’s not a lot of shade on that trail, it’s just low-lying brush.”

===

I’m confused. Was it that she came with a smaller group of friends and only Diem of that group of friends continued on with the others from the larger group, and got overlooked by the others (maybe she wasn’t friends with anyone else) on the way back down the trail?

I'm thinking the 100 number may be a typo or not fact-checked by the media outlet.

It's possible there were about 100 hikers on the trail (it was a weekend?), but they were not all in one group.

 

[clorenc]

Oh no!!

Body found amid search for missing hiker on Black Mountain trail

San Diego police believe they have found the body of a 50-year-old woman who went missing on Sunday while hiking on Black Mountain amid the region’s first heat wave of the summer.

www.nbcsandiego.com

Oh, how heartbreaking!

People always say to never hike alone. She hiked with 100 other people — on a short, popular, clear trail — and still, people didn’t notice.

I thought she’d quickly be found alive. But things can take a tragic turn fast with no water.

Devastating.

 

[vls12345]

Oh no!!

Body found amid search for missing hiker on Black Mountain trail

San Diego police believe they have found the body of a 50-year-old woman who went missing on Sunday while hiking on Black Mountain amid the region’s first heat wave of the summer.

www.nbcsandiego.com

Sad news. My condolences to her loved ones.

It's also odd because someone had posted an earlier link to the Facebook page for the PD and the update (Update #2) made it seem as if she had been found (alive), imo.

https://www.facebook.com/100069419700454/posts/pfbid02rrwAyoq5A5sR8ubWmMhgA5oW6DqZtS6CR8U4y9TdYjbccbCGcKvdwuRL8DDdfDHhl

 

[RickshawFan]

It seems to have been a 5k charity walk to raise funds for a school in Vietnam? LINK
That would explain the large number of hikers and the group-within-a-group.

 

[kayle]

Oh no!!

Body found amid search for missing hiker on Black Mountain trail

San Diego police believe they have found the body of a 50-year-old woman who went missing on Sunday while hiking on Black Mountain amid the region’s first heat wave of the summer.

www.nbcsandiego.com

What a tragic turn of events. May she rest in peace.

 

[Interested_But_Confused]

How sad. RIP Diem.

I know how easy it is to become lost or overwhelmed by the heat when hiking, but on this occasion it seems like everything was done correctly and it still wasn't enough.

Somehow Diem was able to slip away from under the noses of dozens of people. Tragic and almost unbelievable.

 

[RickshawFan]

IMO This was a search that was impacted by non-SAR community folks going into the area and thinking they were helpful, after they'd been formally asked to stay away. This may have delayed the find, since LE were using scent-oriented search dogs, drones, heat-seeking devices, etc. If someone inadvertently dropped a piece of micro-trash it could throw off any of that, not to mention inserting their bodies into the scene.

 

[clorenc]

FWIW pro tip: if she had an iphone 14 and up, if she dialed 911, it would call the satellite if there was no cell service. It also might dial 911 automatically if she fell. Satellite reception would be fab there, because the ground is practically bald.

And Apple Watch Ultra can emit a pretty decent siren if you get lost or stuck.

 

[clorenc]

It's also odd because someone had posted an earlier link to the Facebook page for the PD and the update (Update #2) made it seem as if she had been found (alive), imo.

Yeah, “has been located” was a bad choice of words.

 

[RickshawFan]

How sad. RIP Diem.

I know how easy it is to become lost or overwhelmed by the heat when hiking, but on this occasion it seems like everything was done correctly and it still wasn't enough.

Somehow Diem was able to slip away from under the noses of dozens of people. Tragic and almost unbelievable.

I'm not sure what counts as correct/incorrect in this situation? I don't believe we have enough info to make that determination. For instance, I can't see we know a whole lot about the charity hike, who was in charge, what the instructions were, if the maps were correct, how much water participants were told to carry, who made the decision to continue in high heat, whether hikers were fit, whether there were helpers along the route, etc.

 

[slowpoke]

“Police said they found a body matching Le Nguyen's description around 9:15 a.m. Monday. She was found a quarter mile from the nearest intersection.”

Body of missing hiker found near 'Nighthawk Trail' on Black Mountain

Diem Le Nguyen told her friends she reached the top of Nighthawk Trail on Black Mountain at 9:30 a.m. Sunday. Her body was found the following day.

www.cbs8.com

I don’t know what is meant by nearest intersection.

This tragedy is bringing out strong emotion from me.i live in So Cal,too, and frequently hike on trails that sound a lot like the one Diem was on, where there are transmission towers at some of the tops, and when you look down you see the suburban homes down below.

 

[RickshawFan]

And Apple Watch Ultra can emit a pretty decent siren if you get lost or stuck.

While we are on this subject, my public service announcement. Those of you who go hiking, even if it's a micro-hike....
Check your pack. Look at the buckle on the sternum strap (it goes across your chest). It may have a built-in whistle. If it doesn't, you'll need to tie a whistle to your pack, preferably within easy reach of your mouth (also, if boating, your PFD).

The whistle sound carries much further than a voice.

I can't find my photo, and I don't currently have a pack with a whistle on the buckle, but here's a visual.

 

[Interested_But_Confused]

“Police said they found a body matching Le Nguyen's description around 9:15 a.m. Monday. She was found a quarter mile from the nearest intersection.”

Body of missing hiker found near 'Nighthawk Trail' on Black Mountain

Diem Le Nguyen told her friends she reached the top of Nighthawk Trail on Black Mountain at 9:30 a.m. Sunday. Her body was found the following day.

www.cbs8.com

I don’t know what is meant by nearest intersection.

This tragedy is bringing out strong emotion from me.i live in So Cal,too, and frequently hike on trails that sound a lot like the one Diem was on, where there are transmission towers at some of the tops, and when you look down you see the suburban homes down below.

That is a little confusing. It might mean she was found up on the mountain, near the intersection of a number of trails, or it might mean she made it all the way down the mountain and was found near a road.

 

[clorenc]

She was found a quarter mile from the nearest intersection.

Only a quarter mile . . . this was probably preventable. So sad.

While we are on this subject, my public service announcement. Those of you who go hiking, even if it's a micro-hike....
Check your pack. Look at the buckle on the sternum strap (it goes across your chest). It may have a built-in whistle. If it doesn't, you'll need to tie a whistle to your pack, preferably within easy reach of your mouth (also, if boating, your PFD).

The whistle sound carries much further than a voice.

I can't find my photo, and I don't currently have a pack with a whistle on the buckle, but here's a visual.

View attachment 512830

Super helpful advice. And a really easy thing to do!

If you do more than micro-hikes, an off-grid communication device (like the Garmin InReach) is worth investing in!

 

[RickshawFan]

The summit appears to have radio/tv towers on it. It doesn't look particularly steep or dangerous compared to a lot of hikes:

View attachment 512733

View attachment 512731

Nighthawk Trailhead · 9711 Oviedo Way, San Diego, CA 92129

âââââ · Hiking area

www.google.com

Fabulous photos!