Hiker's body recovered as authorities apologise for mistakenly announcing she was found alive

The body of an 18-year-old hiker has been recovered from the Australian bush, a day after authorities incorrectly announced she had been found alive.

Lily Hooper left her home in Sydney's southwest on 12 August to hike in the Nattai National Park but failed to return.

Her disappearance sparked a major search operation to find her in the dense bush in the NSW Southern Highlands.

On Thursday, New South Wales Premier Chris ​Minns announced that Ms Hooper had been found alive.

But the leader of Australia's largest state later apologised and confirmed a body, believed to be Ms Hooper's, had been found.

Officials are investigating whether a miscommunication over a police code may have led authorities to wrongly report that Ms Hooper had been found alive.

NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon also "unreservedly" ​apologised for the error and for causing "any additional trauma" to Ms Hooper's family.

The body was airlifted from the site on Friday, NSW Police said.

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A post-mortem examination will be conducted in the coming days to formally confirm the identity and cause of death.

Ms Hooper's car was found at the ⁠start of a challenging 10-mile (16 km) walking track, called the Bunnum Pic Walking Trail, ​described as being suited to advanced hikers.

An extensive search operation was launched involving police and emergency services, with close to 100 members of the Australian Defence Force also joining.

Efforts to find Ms Hooper were hampered by the dense and rugged terrain in the national park about 62 miles (100km) southwest of Sydney.

(c) Sky News 2026: Hiker's body recovered as authorities apologise for mistakenly announcing she was found alive