Thursday 24 November 2022 07:26 PM Hiker who joined search for 'lost' teenager found frozen to death in New ... trends now

A hiker whose friends were among those who searched for the missing teen found frozen to death along a New Hampshire trail said the trip was the young woman's 'coming of age experience.' 

Jessie Callaghan paid tribute to the late Emily Sotelo, 19, who was found dead after a grueling four-day search in Franconia Notch State Park on Wednesday. 

Callaghan said she had gone hiking with Sotelo over the summer, and believed the young hiker was likely scared and desperate as she tried making her way down the mountain before getting lost on her solo hiking trip. 

'She clearly had completed the most dangerous part of the decent' Callaghan wrote in a Facebook post, noting that Sotelo was found further along the trial from where she was last seen, 'but just didn't make it out. Her body had given up. So close.' 

'It was her birthday,' Callaghan added as Sotelo went on the trip days before turning 20. 'This was her 'coming of age' experience.' 

Callaghan added that Sotelo's mother was waiting for her in the parking lot after dropping her off at the beginning of the trail. 

'I know that I only met her briefly for a magical interlude in the woods,' Callaghan wrote. 'Talking for a couple miles. But her joy, when I met her, brought me joy. It just sucks that it has been snuffed out'. 

While a cause of death has not yet been confirmed by an autopsy, police believe she died from exposure.