The body was found on Monday, June 24, amid an ongoing search for Diem Le Nguyen on a hiking trail in San Diego.
According to the San Diego Police Department via ABC News, Nguyen went missing on Sunday, June 23 after walking alone from her 100-member Nighthawk Trail hiking group at Black Mountain Open Space Park, 20 miles north of San Diego.
The walk was a humanitarian one, dedicated to raising money to build new schools in Southeast Asia, CBS 8 reported.
The 50-year-old woman became separated from her group around 8 am. About an hour and a half later, Nguyen informed her group that she had completed the course by herself, according to ABC affiliate News 10 San Diego.
Nguyen’s hiking group made it halfway up the 4,048-foot Black Mountain before turning back due to high temperatures, SDPD spokesman Lt. Daniel Meyer said during a news conference Monday, ABC News reported.
However, Nguyen continued to hike.
Just after 10 a.m., Nguyen called family members “saying she was very hot and needed water,” according to Meyer. That was the last time anyone heard from her.
Mountain hiking trail in San Diego County, California.
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San Diego sheriff’s search and rescue crews, dogs, park rangers, local agency helicopters and SDPD drone units began the search at 11:30 a.m. that day, looking for Nguyen late Sunday night and early Monday morning.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Early Monday morning around 9:15, a search helicopter found a body in the area where Nguyen disappeared. The medical examiner has yet to confirm whether the body found is that of Nguyen.
Police declined further comment when contacted by PEOPLE, citing local news coverage.
“At this point, this is obviously a very painful time for the family and friends,” Meyer said at a press conference, according to NBC News San Diego.
“It’s really important that the community comes together and supports this family as they go through this traumatic time.”
San Diego, along with other parts of the US, has been going through extreme heat in recent days. Temperatures could reach triple digits later this week in the Southern California city, 10 News reports.
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Source: HIS Education