Posted Fri 21 Aug 2026 at 7:35amFri 21 Aug 2026 at 7:35am, updated Fri 21 Aug 2026 at 8:57amFri 21 Aug 2026 at 8:57am
In short:
The body of missing bushwalker Lily Hooper was recovered from Nattai National Park overnight.
The rough terrain in the national park, located in NSW's Southern Highlands, made the retrieval process difficult.
What's next?
A post-mortem examination will take place.
The body of hiker Lily Hooper has been recovered from dense bushland in the NSW Southern Highlands more than a week after she went missing.
A NSW Police spokesperson said the body was retrieved from bushland in Nattai National Park last night after an eight-day multi-agency search.
Ms Hooper's body was located about 11:30am on Thursday, but Assistant Commissioner Joseph Cassar said flying it out proved difficult due to the rough terrain.
Lily Hooper, 18, went missing while hiking in the Nattai National Park. (Supplied: NSW Police)
"We are exploring every opportunity to get Lily out of there," he said on Thursday afternoon.
A NSW Police spokesperson said this morning the body was retrieved last night and would undergo a post-mortem examination.
Ms Hooper left her home in south-western Sydney on the morning of Wednesday, August 12, to go hiking in the Nattai National Park, 90 kilometres south-west of Sydney.
Her family alerted police after she failed to return home that evening, which sparked a multi-agency search effort to locate her.
Her car was later found at the beginning of the Bonnum Pic Walking Trail, a challenging 16 kilometre track for more advanced hikers.
Almost 100 members of the Australian Defence Force helped with the search for Lily Hooper. (ABC News: Billy Cooper)
Almost 1,000 people , working day and night, helped search for Ms Hooper, including almost 100 Australian Defence Force personnel, 280 NSW SES volunteers and specialist police crews.
The search included scouring dense undergrowth, complex cliff lines and deep ravines, and crews were forced to deal with inclement weather that hampered their efforts.
The Nattai National park has dense bushland, deep ravines and high cliffs. (ABC Illawarra: Justin Huntsdale)
Despite this, no sign of the 18-year-old or any personal belongings were located until Thursday.
NSW Premier Chris Minns was informed during budget estimates that Ms Hooper had been found, initially saying that she was alive.
This was widely reported by Australian media, including the ABC.
Mr Minns later told a parliamentary hearing that a body had been found.
SES volunteers stand at the command post where the search for Lily Hooper was coordinated. (ABC News: Billy Cooper)
The body was found by an SES searcher and there was an "eight to 10-minute" period when Ms Hooper's family believed she was found alive, according to police.
Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon later "unreservedly" apologised for the "miscommunication" and "any additional trauma" to Ms Hooper's family.
