Arizona hikers discover body of missing woman near mountain peak
Body identified as 46-year-old Melinda Oakeson, who recently was reported missing
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A group of hikers in Arizona stumbled across the body of a missing woman on Friday while trekking up a mountainside, authorities said.
The hikers were approaching a mountain peak near Craggy Wash, north of Lake Havasu City, when they found the unresponsive individual, the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office search and rescue team said.
The group called the sheriff’s office for help around 5 p.m., saying the rugged terrain prevented them from getting close enough to check on the individual’s condition, officials said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Rescue teams responded and determined the individual was dead.
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The hikers were near a mountain peak when they spotted an individual. They told officials they were unable to get close enough to see the person's condition. (Mohave County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue)
The recovery operation was delayed until the following morning due to the complexity of the location, officials said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The hikers were near Craggy Wash, north of Lake Havasu City, when they called the sheriff's office for help. (Mohave County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue)
"The terrain was steep and rugged," the sheriff’s office said. "Considering the different options to extract the body with our technical rope rescue team, the DPS Western Air Rescue helicopter from Kingman became available and performed a long-line extraction."
A DPS Western Air Rescue helicopter from Kingman performed a long-line extraction to recover the body on Saturday morning. (Mohave County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue)
The body was later identified as 46-year-old Melinda Oakeson, who was recently reported as missing, according to the sheriff's office.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Oakeson was reported missing on Oct. 16 by a family member who hadn't had contact with her in a while, a spokesperson for the sheriff's office told Fox News Digital. Oakeson had a Utah address on her driver's license, though had a mailing address of Snowflake, Ariz.
The family member reported that she had been living out of her vehicle for an undetermined amount of time, the spokesperson said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The sheriff's office did not immediately provide details on how Oakeson died or how she got to the location on the mountainside.