Brook Cheuvront: American hiker found dead on South Africa’s mountain

South African National Parks (SANParks), which manages Table Mountain and other national parks, said the hiker left her room at noon to hike up the mountain.

Her friends called the police when there were no updates on her tracking app, and they could not contact her by phone.

A swift search by rangers, and wilderness search-and-rescue crews was conducted until it was called off late on Saturday.

A helicopter joined the search the following day and helped locate her body on the slopes of the mountain.

“The circumstances around the hiker’s death are still being investigated,” SANParks said in a statement, external.

Police said an autopsy would be conducted to determine the possible cause of death.

SANParks said an investigation into Cheuvront’s death was ongoing.

In a Facebook post, external, Cheuvront’s father said the family was “devastated.”

“God help me and us,” Steve Cheuvront wrote.

She had been a student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and was doing an internship at a non-governmental organisation (NG0).

South African authorities have denied there is a problem with crime, external in Table Mountain National Park, but urged visitors to avoid hiking on their own in a separate post.