Lily Hooper’s family reveal surprising new details about the teenager’s final moments after she disappeared while hiking

Lily Hooper’s family has revealed the teenager is believed to have died after suffering a fall on the day she went missing, with preliminary investigations indicating she did not suffer in the cold. 

The 18-year-old was reported missing after she failed to return from a hike on the Bonnum Pic Trail in Nattai National Park, about 90 kilometres south-west of Sydney, on August 12. 

Her body was found eight days later on August 20 following an extensive multi-agency search involving nearly 1,000 people, including hundreds of volunteers.

‘Preliminary reports said Lily had a fall, she had an accident that first afternoon, she died the day she went missing and was found lying peacefully in dense bushland,’ her mother, Kirrily Hooper, told The Daily Telegraph.

She reflected on the ‘surreal’ wait for news of her daughter.

‘It was a surreal time for us as a family, the waiting and not knowing, hoping each day would be the day she came out … then getting really upset every afternoon, getting close to dark, knowing it was going to be another night with her out there in the elements.

‘In hindsight we now know she passed quickly and she did not suffer in the cold.

‘That was the hardest part, not knowing if she was out there scared in the elements when we would come home at night and try to sleep.’

Lily had planned to finish the hike before heading to martial arts training and then spend time with her boyfriend from 9pm. 

When she did not arrive and could not be reached, he contacted her sister at 9.15pm. 

Ms Hooper said the family gathered supplies, including a snatch strap, because her father Jim thought they might need to pull Lily’s car from the mud. They also bought her favourite Tim Tams. 

‘We stopped at the service station, got extra headlamps, torches … we thought she would have been just bogged in the gravel or something in the car,’ Ms Hooper said.

Police later informed the family that her car had been found locked and empty. 

The family’s agonising wait for news ended eight days later when Lily’s remains were found in dense bushland. 

Mr Hooper was seen comforting all three of the teenager’s siblings after rescue workers returned from the search with the news Lily had not survived.

‘That was the hardest thing, I took each kid aside and whispered to each one of them that they should have to bury me, not the other way round,’ he said.

‘I never thought I’d ever have to bury one of my kids.

‘That’s another thing, as a family, we eat at the table together, Lily’s seat is empty now, that’s a hard thing to get used to.’

Mr Hooper has previously praised rescue workers and said he held no anger toward officers after the family was initially told Lily had been found alive, only to later learn she had died. 

Despite the error, he told 7News last week that he was grateful to police and volunteers for never giving up on finding his ‘precious girl’ and that he held no anger. 

He repeated the sentiment to the Telegraph: ‘I’m not cross, the police threw the kitchen sink at finding Lily.’ 

The family has called for improved signage and a wider trail through Nattai National Park to make the area safer for hikers.

The park has attracted increased attention since Lily’s death and Ms Hooper said she understood why her daughter had wanted to hike there. 

‘We couldn’t take our eyes off it, it’s stunningly beautiful – I could see why Lily wanted to do it,’ she said.

The family is backing a scheme to make personal locator beacons (PLBs) more widely available and said they spoke to NSW Premier Chris Minns about the trail.

‘I said to Chris Minns, that track is going to bring more people with the attention and if they’re going to go up there and walk… you’re going to have more people lost,’ Mr Hooper said.

‘Make it so that when you’re coming back, you know where you are and the signs will obviously guide you back.’

Ms Hooper added that young hikers can learn from Lily’s story and be safer. 

‘We are encouraging young people to get out into the bush and to enjoy Australian nature,’ she said.

‘It’s important to not scare people from doing that, but they should just learn that there needs to be some risk mitigation.’