This has come up in a few posts this morning. I can only speak to my experience as a 40+ year hiker who has hiked 88 of the highest 100 peaks in New England including a number that are bushwhacks (i.e. no established trails) and has hiked the northern 1/3 of Vermont's Long Trail which is generally considered the most gnarly part of the LT. I have not done overnight hikes that include camping, most of my day hikes are in the 3.5-6 hour range but I have done day hikes up to 20+/- miles. I consider myself well above average as a hiker. I'm fit and I move quickly (not as quickly as I used to!!), and I am able to get out to hike about 20-25 times a year. I have only hiked in hiking boots a couple times, and it was decades ago. I prefer trail runners such as the Brooks Cascadia or the Hoka Speedgoat, as do many hikers these days. These kinds of shoes have evolved far beyond the running shoes that would be more suitable for runs on the local rec path. I would say around 40% of the hikers I see on trails similar to this the last few years are wearing trail runners, 45% hiking boots, 15% "other" (traditional running shoes, tennis shoes or sneakers, Crocs/Tevas, barefoot).
We really need to get past thinking that there is a right way and a wrong way to hike because what's right and wrong is completely dependent on the terrain one will be in and the weather one will encounter. The equipment I use would not be appropriate for most winter hiking in the mountains. In Ms. Sotelo's case, although we're starting to get more details about her attire and what she had in her pack, I'm still finding the details pretty thin so although it appears based on what we've been told so far that she was not prepared for the hike she planned, without more facts we're just speculating.
For example, in the last 24 hours it has emerged that she had a pack with a water bladder and some food items. How do we know she didn't have a headlamp in that pack? It hasn't been reported that she did, but unless her Mom packed her pack we don't know for a fact what was in that pack. Was a compass in there? Map? Lighter? Battery pack to recharge her phone? Knife? Any first aid supplies? Only the person who packed that pack, which I assume was Emily, would know for sure.