A New York City financial trader was found dead on Monday just a day after she went missing during a solo hiking trip in the mountains of New Hampshire.
Kate Matrosova, married to the vice president of JP Morgan Chase, was located Monday afternoon between Mount Madison and Mount Adams, the state Fish and Game Department said according to WMUR. It appears the 32-year-old died of exposure to harsh winds and subzero temperatures after she activated her emergency signal Sunday afternoon.
Officials said gusts of snow and the frigid cold prevented rescuers from reaching Matrosova in time. The signal also failed to give her exact location.
"Unfortunately, a lot of the coordinates that we received over the night are all over the place within a mile circumference," Lieutenant Jim Goss of New Hampshire Fish and Game told WMUR.
Matrosova was last seen when her husband, Chase Vice President Charlie Farhoodi, dropped her off Sunday morning near the base of the mountains. The Russian native planned to hike all the way up Mount Madison before tackling Mount Adams, Mount Jefferson and Mount Washington- which is the Northeast's highest peak at 6,300 feet.
At around 3:30 p.m., she activated her personal locater beacon, according to WMUR.
A search party was formed but winds howling at 108 mph and the blistering cold forced them to retreat, Goss told the station. Rescuers used a helicopter the next morning, however the swirling snow blocked their vision.
Matrosova was a credit-trader for French banking firm BNP Paribas, according to her LinkedIn profile. Her Facebook page is filled with photos of her out and about in boats, on mountains and snow-filled trails, the New York Daily News noted.
"If you are going to hike in this type of weather, you need to be in a more sheltered area, not on an open, exposed ridgeline," Goss said. "There's just no room for error in a place like that."
