A 50-year-old woman went missing after becoming separated from her group on a hiking trail in San Diego during extreme heat over the weekend, authorities said.
According to San Diego police, Diem Le Nguyen was hiking with a group on Black Mountain’s Nighthawk Trail near 9711 Oviedo Way when he stopped midway along the trail around 8 a.m.
Police say Nguyen left the group and continued walking along the trail alone.
Nguyen contacted the group around 9:30 a.m. to let them know she had reached the end of the trail, but police said the group had not heard from her since.
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Police say Nguyen is seen in this photo, taken on the Sunday before she went missing. (San Diego Police Department)
“Due to the weather and difficult roads, she is at risk of becoming lost,” police said of Nguyen.
Diem Le Nguyen, 50, was reported missing Sunday after going missing while hiking on San Diego’s Black Mountain Nighthawk Trail. (San Diego Police Department)
California officials warned that temperatures could reach triple digits in inland Los Angeles and San Diego over the weekend.
The National Weather Service issued an extreme heat watch for parts of Southern California until Sunday evening.
Authorities said Nguyen became lost after getting separated from the group and continuing to walk alone along Nighthawk Trail. (FOX5 San Diego KSWB)
“We have a heatstroke warning in place this weekend and it’s extremely hot so dehydration is a big factor,” Officer Darius Jamsetjee said. FOX5 San Diego. “There’s very little shade on this trail, just low shrubs, so the heat can set in quickly. Plus, from here you’ll gain several hundred feet in elevation.”
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Police said Nguyen was last seen wearing a black shirt with a pink heart on the front, black pants, a brown hat, sunglasses and a backpack. The suspect is described as a 50-year-old Asian woman, approximately 5’1″, weighing 105 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes.
Search and rescue teams are searching for missing hiker Diem Le Nguyen near the Nighthawk Trail in San Diego’s Black Mountains. (FOX5 San Diego KSWB)
Police released a photo they say was taken on the Sunday before Nguyen disappeared.
Authorities are using helicopters and drones to conduct an aerial search for Nguyen, along with the sheriff’s search and rescue team and volunteers, FOX 5 reported.
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Authorities urged anyone with information on Nguyen’s whereabouts to call 911 and quote case number 24-50182.
