Family’s remarkable praise for cops who gave them false hope when Lily Hooper was found dead
Lily Hooper’s family said they were not angry with police after a communication mix-up saw rescuers initially tell them the teenager had been found alive, before later confirming she had died.
The 18-year-old’s body was airlifted on Thursday evening and is now undergoing a post-mortem examination to determine the exact cause of death.
Ms Hooper was found dead on Thursday morning, after an eight-day multi-agency search involving nearly 1,000 people, including hundreds of volunteers.
She was reported missing after she failed to return from a hike along the Bonnum Pic Trail in Nattai National Park about 90km south-west of Sydney on August 12.
Ms Hooper’s family endured a heartbreaking ordeal after first being told she had been found alive, only to later learn she had died.
Despite the error, Ms Hooper’s father, Jim Hooper, said he was grateful to police and volunteers for never giving up on finding his ‘precious girl’.
He told 7News on Friday that he held no anger towards officers.
Mr Hooper confirmed that he and his wife Kirrily had visited their daughter’s body at the coroner’s office.
Lily Hooper’s family were initially told she had been found alive on Thursday due to a communication error, before later learning she had died
The eight-day search for the missing teenager ended after her body was found in bushland in the NSW Southern Highlands
The multi-agency search involved more than 1,000 people including police, SES volunteers, firefighters, paramedics and specialist search and rescue teams
The heartbreaking miscommunication on Thursday centred around a codeword.
Searchers sent a radio message at 11.27am saying Lily had been found, prompting operators to ask them to use the ‘water bottle’ analogy to confirm her condition.
‘Water bottle’ is a code phrase used by searchers to avoid delivering distressing news over radio communications, including to family members who may be listening, according to the Daily Telegraph.
A volunteer then told radio operators: ‘Water bottle broken’, prompting base operators to respond: ‘You have found our MP (missing person) and they are injured; please relay your exact latitude and longitude.’
The conversation immediately triggered confusion among Lily’s loved ones, who believed she was injured but alive.
Coordinators again requested an update on Lily’s condition at 11.45am before an SES volunteer confirmed she was deceased.
The mix-up led NSW Premier Chris Minns to tell a budget estimates hearing that Lily had been found alive in the bush with ‘half a bottle of water’.
Minutes later, he told the same inquiry: ‘She has been found deceased, and I only raise that because I gave earlier advice.’
Despite the miscommunication, Lily Hooper’s family offered forgiveness, telling 7News they were grateful to police and volunteers who never gave up searching for their ‘precious girl’
Police retrieved her body by helicopter from challenging terrain
Premier Chris Minns mistakenly declared Lily Hooper was alive during a committee inquiry
Minns’ remarks were published by multiple media outlets before he was forced to provide an update less than 30 minutes later.
‘I have got some terrible news. I apologise… Lily’s body has been found,’ he told the committee.
He then issued an apology via a statement shortly after, saying: ‘Advice I received earlier today relating to Lily Hooper was incorrect. I genuinely believed I was sharing good news.’
‘My deepest condolences are with Lily’s family. I am profoundly sorry to think that anything I said may have added to their heartbreak during an already devastating time,’ he added.
Yesterday, he said he intended to personally apologise to the family.
Police Assistant Commissioner Joseph Cassar told reporters on Thursday afternoon that the family had been informed searchers initially believed Lily was alive.
‘I think it would be fair to say they were informed the initial information (was) that searchers believed she was alive, and that is what was communicated,’ Police Assistant Commissioner Joseph Cassar said.
‘But like I said, within the eight to 10 minutes, we were able to give an update, which was a more accurate account of the discovery.’
NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon vowed to ensure the error would never happen again
A vigil was held for the teenager on Friday in the community where she lived
The Hoopers’ next-door neighbour, Martin Macri, told the Daily Mail the confusion over whether Lily had been found alive was ‘crushing for the family’.
He was at work when he first heard Lily was alive, only to later receive the heartbreaking update that she had died.
‘They are a lovely family. She’s a lovely girl. Very pretty, blonde hair, blue eyes, very fit. She did karate or something. They are all fit,’ Mr Macri said.
Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon promised on Friday that the communication error would never happen again.
‘Yesterday’s miscommunication, as tragic as it was, was not born out of ill will,’ he said.
‘We want to make sure this doesn’t happen again. It was a terrible set of circumstances. We will work through that.’
A vigil was held in Oakdale in Sydney’s south-west on Friday night as the community rallied around Lily Hooper’s grieving family to remember the teenager.
