A massive coordinated search operation, now entering its seventh day, is underway across the rugged Nattai National Park in Australia’s Southern Highlands for 18-year-old experienced hiker Lily Hooper, who vanished during a solo day trip last week.
According to official records, Hooper left her family home in Oakdale around 8 a.m. last Wednesday, informing her relatives that she planned to hike the popular trails at Nattai National Park. When she failed to return by 10 p.m. that same day, her family raised the alarm, prompting an immediate search response. By 11 p.m., search teams located Hooper’s parked car on Wanganderry Road, just near the trailhead of the Bonnum Pic Walking Trail, confirming she had entered the wilderness as planned.
What began as a local search effort has rapidly expanded into one of the largest regional search operations in recent memory, bringing together multiple specialist agencies to tackle the harsh terrain. On the seventh day of the search, close to 100 Australian Defence Force personnel joined the effort, bringing the total number of active on-site search and rescue professionals and defence personnel to 200. An additional 260 volunteers from the State Emergency Service (SES) are also supporting ground operations. The search force includes specialist units from NSW Police ranging from Polair aviation, dog squad, mounted units, trail bike teams and rescue divisions, alongside the Rural Fire Service, Fire and Rescue NSW, the National Parks and Wildlife Service, NSW Ambulance, and the Westpac Lifesaver Rescue Helicopter service with additional airborne search assets.
Search commanders have warned that the operation faces significant geographic challenges. In a public statement, the NSW SES Wollondilly Unit noted that search crews are forced to navigate through thick, overgrown tree canopies, sharp cliff drops, and some of the most exceptionally rugged terrain in the region. A unified forward command post has been established at High Range to coordinate persistent, around-the-clock search efforts across both ground and air, with the single core goal of bringing Hooper home safely.
For Hooper’s family, the week-long wait has been an overwhelming ordeal. In a heartfelt public statement, the family described themselves as absolutely devastated by their daughter’s disappearance. “We desperately want to bring Lily home safe and we ask as the search continues, to keep our family and Lily in your thoughts,” they said, adding that they were deeply grateful for the tireless work of all emergency personnel and volunteers. The family also requested that well-meaning community members refrain from joining search efforts directly, asking that only trained professional teams operate in the hazardous terrain to avoid additional risk.
Emergency officials have echoed that request, while urging local residents and travelers to remain alert for any signs of the missing hiker. Authorities are asking anyone who lives in or traveled through the High Range, Southern Highlands, or Bonnum Pic trail areas in the past week to review private dashcam footage, home CCTV recordings, and check the boundaries of rural properties and isolated outbuildings for any unusual activity. At the same time, they stressed that untrained members of the public should not enter the backcountry to search, due to the high risk of injury in the unforgiving landscape.
The head of the state’s peak bushwalking body has pushed back against online speculation that has labeled Hooper reckless for hiking solo as a young woman. Jessie Burke, president of Bushwalking NSW, noted that there is still no public information about what circumstances led to Hooper’s disappearance, or how well she was equipped for the conditions. “It’s important for people not to assume things. We don’t know the circumstances, we don’t know how well equipped Lily was – we just don’t have those answers,” she said.
Burke added that negative commentary about solo female hiking is unfounded, pointing out that the majority of Bushwalking NSW’s 11,000 members are women who regularly hike solo, and that the activity is not inherently dangerous. “She’s gone out to have a good day walking, and whatever has happened has happened,” Burke said, rejecting claims that Hooper acted recklessly on her trip. As of Thursday, the search operation remains active, with crews continuing to comb the remote wilderness for any trace of the missing teen.