Australian police mistakenly tell missing teenage girl Lily Hooper's family she was alive after finding her body
The family of a missing 18-year-old were elated to hear from police that she'd been found alive, only to have their hopes dashed just moments later.
Australian teenager Lily Hooper tragically died while hiking in Nattai National Park in New South Wales, Australia, having vanished on 12 August.
The Oakdale youngster left her car near the Bonnum Pic Walking Trail, which served as the starting point for an eight-day search.
Over 1,000 people - including police, NSW State Emergency Service volunteers, Australian Defence Force personnel, other emergency services, and volunteers - joined the search, which covered steep terrain, dense bushland, and cliff lines.
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Investigators also relied upon helicopters equipped with thermal imaging, as well as telecommunications data and extensive ground searches to try to locate Hooper.
On 20 August, however, the body of a young woman was located in bushland by search crews within the park.
Though the authorities immediately understood the identity of the body to be Hooper's, they couldn't say for certain without a formal identification.
When reporting back to Hooper's family at a search base, however, a devastating wording mix-up led them to believe she'd been found alive and was likely to survive the ordeal.
"They're going to get her now, by the sound of it," her father, Jim Hooper, told news reporters, as yet unaware that his daughter had died. "Let'd wait to see her. She might be going straight to hospital, I'd say."
Her mother, Kerrily, added: "Yeah, today is the day. So, we're really excited."
The incorrect information was also passed along to NSW Premier Chris Minns, who happily announced during a parliamentary hearing that Hooper had been located and was alive.
The announcement was withdrawn moments later, when an aide informed the Premier the initial advice had been wrong, and that Hooper had been found deceased, after which Minns was forced to tell the court: "I've got some terrible news.
"I apologise to the committee, but it seems as if the early advice was wrong."
It was also around this time that Jim and Kerrily were dealt the heartbreaking blow.
Apologising to Hooper's family, Minns claimed he genuinely believed he was sharing positive news.
NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon also issued an unreserved apology for the communication failure, admitting the error had caused additional trauma for Hooper's family, who'd already raised a toast to her survival at the search base.
"The miscommunication obviously was born out of elation that Lily had been found," Lanyon said. "Her condition at that time was such that searchers were relieved, and certainly those at the command post relayed.
"Tragically, that miscommunication then led to a deflation, and obviously we know now, an impact on her family."
He added: "Once again, I unreservedly apologise for that miscommunication."
The family had been led to believe Hooper had been found alive for approximately eight to 10 minutes before they were given the correct information.
After they were given the sad news, Joseph Cassar, Assistant Commissioner, confirmed that the body had been discovered by an SES searcher in dense and difficult terrain.
He also defended the wider search operation, describing it as a coordinated effort involving hundreds of trained volunteers and emergency personnel.
"If I could turn the clock back, I certainly would," he insisted when questioned about the gut-wrenching communication error.
His team also claimed that the remote location where Hooper's body was found meant information may have passed through several people before reaching the command centre, contributing to the confusion.
The circumstances surrounding the mix-up are now expected to be reviewed, along with a coroner's report into Hooper's death.
Topics: Australia, News, World News, Real Life, True Life
Rhianna Benson