The race to find a missing hiker is on. In a search that's growing increasingly desperate by the hour, authorities are trying to find a missing hiker in intense heat.
A 50-year-old went missing from a San Diego hiking trail. Her disappearance comes amid a heat wave in California that sent temperatures skyrocketing. Diem Le Nguyen went missing while hiking on Nighthawk Trail on Black Mountain near 9711 Oviedo Way. She was with a hiking group exploring the area. However, the rest of the group stopped halfway along the trail at around 8 a.m. Nguyen decided to forge ahead and finish the trail alone.
She hasn't been seen since. Around 9:30 a.m., Nguyen contacted the rest of the group to let them know she reached the end of the trail. However, she hasn't contacted anyone since, and no one has been able to get ahold of her. Authorities are worried given the heat. In California, the temperatures reached around the triple digits. With the intense heat in California, the hiker is at risk of having a heat stroke as a result. "Due to the weather and difficulty of the trail, she is missing at risk," police said of Nguyen.
Hiker Missing Amid Heat Wave
According to authorities, dehydration plays a very real risk. Likewise, officials said there's not much shade on the trail for the hiker to hide from the sun in. The risk from the sun puts an added pressure to find her.
"With the heat advisory this weekend, it's extremely hot, dehydration is very much a big factor for this," Officer Darius Jamsetjee told FOX5 San Diego. "There's not a lot of shade on that trail, it's just low-lying brush. So the heat will get to you very quickly, plus the elevation gain of a couple hundred feet from here."
After she disappeared, authorities began sharing her photo on Facebook and social media. Nguyen was wearing a black shirt with a pink heart, black pants, a brown hat, and sunglasses. She's around five foot with black hair and brown eyes and is an Asian female. Besides getting the word out, authorities have begun combing the area with volunteers.
They've also deployed helicopters and drones to search the area by air.
