Missing American tourist found dead in South Africa

An American woman who went missing while hiking on Table Mountain in South Africa has been found dead, officials said.

Brook Cheuvront, a student from North Carolina, was in Cape Town interning with a non-governmental organization (NGO).

The 20-year-old student was reported missing Saturday after the tracking app she used while hiking alone stopped updating and she could not be contacted.

Her body was discovered Sunday in a mountainous area near Table Mountain known as Devil’s Peak, police told local media.

South African National Parks (SANParks), which manages Table Mountain and other national parks, said the tourist left her room at noon to hike up the mountain.

Her friends called police when the tracking app showed no updates and they were unable to reach her by phone.

Rangers and search and rescue teams conducted a quick search, which was called off late Saturday evening.

The next day, a helicopter joined the search and helped find the woman’s body on Devil’s Peak.

“The circumstances surrounding the hiker’s death are still under investigation,” SANParks said in a statement.

Police said an autopsy will be performed to determine the probable cause of death.

SANParks said an investigation into Cheuvront’s death was ongoing.

In a Facebook post, Cheuvront’s father said the family was “devastated.”

“God help me and us,” wrote Steve Cheuvront.

She was a student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

South African authorities have denied that there is a crime problem in Table Mountain National Park, but in a separate post they urged tourists to avoid hiking on their own.

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