Missing Bushwalker Search Enters Second Week in Nattai National Park
An 18-year-old bushwalker, Lily Hooper, has been missing for seven days in Nattai National Park, roughly 90 kilometres south-west of Sydney, as a multi-agency search continues to find no trace of her or her belongings. Police confirmed on Tuesday afternoon, 18 August 2026, that despite extensive ground and aerial operations across rugged terrain, neither Hooper nor her gear has been located.
Hooper left her home on Burragorang Road in Oakdale, in Sydney's south-west, at about 8am on Wednesday 12 August 2026 to go hiking in Nattai National Park. According to initial police inquiries, she reached the summit of Bonnum Pic mountain mid-morning that day, having sent messages from the trail earlier. She was reported missing that evening when she did not return home. Emergency services located her car near the trail head on Wanganderry Road at High Range at 11pm on 12 August.
As of Tuesday 18 August, the search operation includes PolAir (the NSW Police helicopter unit), NSW Police Rescue, the SES (State Emergency Service), the RFS (Rural Fire Service), Fire and Rescue NSW, and the National Parks and Wildlife Service. Ground volunteers include Hooper's friends and family alongside Volunteer Rescue Association crews mobilised from as far north as Cessnock, roughly 200 kilometres from the search area.
The search has faced significant operational headwinds. Poor weather over the weekend of 15 and 16 August hampered efforts in the Nattai terrain. NSW police chief inspector Brendan Bernie confirmed that thermal and aerial sweeps conducted by PolAir late on Sunday 16 August were unsuccessful. Thermal imaging uses heat-detecting cameras to spot the warmth of a human body against the cooler ground, which can be particularly useful at night or under tree cover. On Monday 17 August, police said the search would focus on the lower sections of the Bonnum Pic walking trail.
Hooper is described as Caucasian, approximately 175cm tall, of slim build, with long blond hair and blue eyes. She was last seen wearing a shirt and shorts.
In a statement issued on Tuesday afternoon, 18 August, Hooper's family said they were "absolutely devastated" and asked that only professional search teams continue, citing the terrain and conditions. The family's appeal reflects the difficulty of the ground operation in a national park known for dense bushland and steep ridgelines, where weather and landscape can compound the challenges of locating a missing person, particularly one lightly equipped for a day hike.
Authorities have urged anyone with information or who walked the Bonnum Pic trail on Wednesday 12 August to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
The broader context here is the decision-making calculus that search commanders face when a deployment extends past the critical 72-hour window, the period after which the odds of finding a missing person alive typically decline. When thermal imaging and aerial sweeps return negative results and weather degrades ground access, the decision to concentrate resources on specific sectors, in this case the lower sections of the Bonnum Pic trail, reflects a shift from broad containment (trying to cover every possible area) to targeted probability mapping (focusing on the zones most likely to hold clues based on terrain, last-known movements, and behaviour patterns). The family's request to restrict the search to professional teams further narrows the operational footprint, likely aimed at preserving the integrity of the search grid and managing risk to untrained volunteers in hazardous terrain. As the operation enters its second week, the absence of any physical evidence, whether personal belongings or trace signs, will test the endurance of the multi-agency response and the search strategy's underlying assumptions.
