A 70-year-old hiking expert who was found dead on Washington State's Mount Rainier after she went missing died from being exposed to the cold, officials told NBC News.
Officials found the body of Karen Sykes, a well-known outdoors writer from Seattle, was found on Saturday in a rocky area near the Owyhigh Lakes trail in Mount Rainier National Park. She died of hypothermia, investigator Karen Barr of the Pierce County medical examiner's office told the station.
Barr could not specify how long Sykes was exposed to the cold before she died. But weather reports say temperatures in the park were around 40 degrees the time she went missing. The medical examiner's office ruled Sykes' death an accident.
Sykes went missing last Wednesday while hiking with a partner to conduct research for a story. Her partner reported her missing when she did not return from exploring a snowy area located 5,000 feet up the mountain.
A three-day search was suspended when search crews discovered as female body at around 3 p.m. Saturday.
"The victim was discovered off-trail near the eastern branch of Boundary Creek in rough, steep terrain. The area is difficult to access and not commonly traveled," park spokesman Patti Wold said according to the Los Angeles Times.
Sykes, who was known in the Northeast for her photography and stories about hiking, "was always eager to find new places to go, hidden hikes that weren't well-traveled," Mary Kay Nelson, executive director of the organization Visit Rainer, told the Associated Press.
Sykes was researching a story that she most likely would have posted on the organization's website.
Those who knew the travel writer were shocked to hear of her death because she was no stranger to the outdoors.
"It tells us that no matter how prepared we are, accidents happen and things can happen," Nelson told the AP. "We need to take outdoor recreation seriously. There's a certain amount of risk every day we get up, whatever we do."
