A mother who went missing while camping in Arizona has been found dead. Her death seems to have been caused by the heat.
Jessica Christine Lindstrom, who is 34 and from Oregon, went hiking around 8:30 a.m. local time on Friday. When she hadn’t come back after a few hours, people started to worry.
The Phoenix Fire Department officially declared Lindstrom missing after cops confirmed that she was last seen hiking in the Deem Hills Recreation Area near 51st Drive and Deem Hills Parkway. This was reported by the Associated Press.
With the help of drones, search teams looked for the 34-year-old woman who had gone missing. After five hours of searching, her body was found on a remote trail.
Investigators have decided that her death was not suspicious. It looks like she died of heat exhaustion while hiking, but this hasn’t been proven yet.
Her father told KTVK/KPHO that Lindstrom was in the area for the baptism of her son and that she knew the trails she was hiking because she had lived in Arizona before.
Since then, a GoFundMe page has been set up for the 34-year-old’s family. It tells more about how sad her loved ones are.
Missing Endangered Person
Jessica Lindstrom was last seen this morning hiking the Deem Hills Rec area near 51st Dr and Deem Hills Pkwy. Jessica is a 34 yr old W/F 506 135 with Bro/Blu. She was wearing a black tank top and neon yellow shorts. Contact PPD with any info. pic.twitter.com/iK74OVMlsP
— Phoenix Police (@PhoenixPolice) August 5, 2023
Angela Adams, Lindstrom’s mother, wrote: “Our family has been overcome by the outpouring of love and support from our family, friends, strangers, and hundreds of people in our community who came to help us in every way.
“We can’t say thank you enough to the first rescuers who came to help and spent the whole day organising the search. We can’t say enough good things about the hundreds of people who dropped everything to face the heat and help us look for Jessica.
“We are so moved by your selfless service, love, and prayers. We wish we could thank each of you directly for reaching out to our family, but please know that we can’t do that right now. We do feel all the love and prayers, and they keep us going as we walk this new road.”
On the fundraiser page, it says that the money will be used to pay for Lindstrom’s funeral and help her husband and children financially. At the time this was written, over $37,000 of the $50,000 goal had been raised.
The average temperature in Phoenix in July was 102.7 degrees Fahrenheit, which made it the hottest month ever recorded.
The Phoenix Fire Department has said that hikers should be aware of the heat and take safety steps before going out.
The New York Times said that at least seven people have died this summer in the Southwest because of the heat. Most of these deaths happened in national and state parks.
At this time, we are thinking about Lindstrom’s family.