‘We are devastated’: Body of missing US student found on Devil’s Peak

“We are devastated. God help me and us.”

These were the words of a grief-stricken father in the US after the body of his 20-year-old daughter Brook Cheuvront was found on Sunday in Table Mountain National Park (TMNP). 

Cheuvront, a Morehead scholar from the University of North Carolina, was in Cape Town doing an internship at an NGO. She went missing after going on a solo hike on Devil's Peak on Saturday.

“Please please. Let her be found. It will be daylight there in 90 minutes. Search and rescue. The US Ambassador is aware. All resources will be sent. I may be flying over tomorrow,” her father pleaded in a post on Facebook early on Sunday.

“We can confirm the body of the missing hiker was found by a search party at about 2pm on Sunday in an area which is part of Devil's Peak and was retrieved by EMS helicopter,” said police spokesperson Lt-Col Malcolm Pojie.  

“An autopsy will be conducted to determine the possible cause of death,” he said.

South African National Parks (SANParks) said the hiker left her accommodation at noon to hike up the mountain.

TMNP's operations room was notified by metro emergency about the missing hiker after friends had not heard from Cheuvront and her tracking app was not working.

An extensive search was conducted by SANParks rangers, wilderness search and rescue volunteers and trail runners on Saturday.

“Unfortunately, she could not be located at the time. The next morning the search was resumed and conducted on foot. All agencies were again dispatched but the search proved unsuccessful,” said SANParks.

“The City of Cape Town’s piloted aircraft was also deployed to assist with the search, resulting in the location of the missing hiker's body on the slopes of the mountain. The circumstances around the hiker's death are being investigated and further details about this incident will be provided as and when necessary.”

When he heard her body had been found, Steve Cheuvront asked for posts about her being missing to be taken off social media.

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