Missing Vanderbilt student's body found in New Hampshire mountains
![Emily Sotelo, 20, went missing after setting out for a hike in the White Mountain National Forest in New Hampshire on Sunday, officials said.](/https/www.tennessean.com/gcdn/presto/2022/11/23/PNAS/45414a90-f4e8-4339-a6ca-8fb277511722-emily_sotelo.jpg?width=300&height=400&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp)
The body of Emily Sotelo, a 20-year-old Vanderbilt University student, was found Wednesday after she went missing during a hike in White Mountain National Forest in New Hampshire, officials said.
Sotelo was dropped off on Sunday morning at the Lafayette Place Campground in Franconia, according to the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department. She intended to hike a route that included Mount Lafayette, Haystack and Flume.
Sotelo's body was found just after 11 a.m. Eastern time Wednesday on the northwest side of Mount Lafayette in Franconia, a news release from New Hampshire Fish and Game said.
Crews searched amid harsh conditions Sunday night through Wednesday morning, but efforts were hampered by high winds, cold temperatures and blowing snow. Wind chills in the area were well below zero this week and especially frigid in higher elevations.
Searchers found tracks and items that belonged to Sotelo at the headwaters of Lafayette Brook before her body was discovered Wednesday. An Army National Guard helicopter helped bring her to the Cannon Mountain Ski Area.
A Vanderbilt University spokesperson said Sotelo was a sophomore majoring in biochemistry and chemical biology. She was a native of Westford, Massachusetts.
"An active member of the university community, Emily was the community service chair for the DORE Initiative and public relations chair for Big Dore Lil Dore," G.L. Black, vice provost and dean of students said in a news release. "Our thoughts during this difficult time are with her family and all of her many friends at Vanderbilt and beyond."
Counseling is available to students at Vanderbilt at University Counseling Center by calling 615-322-2571. Text VANDY to 741741 for the crisis text line.
And students can schedule therapy visits with Vanderbilt Telehealth by AcademicLiveCare and call the student care coordination at 615-343-9355.
The search was a multi-agency effort that involved several groups, the release said, including the Pemigewasset Valley Search and Rescue Team; the Androscoggin Valley Search and Rescue Team; Mountain Rescue Service; Lakes Region Search and Rescue; the Upper Valley Wilderness Response Team; New England K-9; the New Hampshire Army National Guard; Civil Air Patrol; and the White Mountain National Forest.
New Hampshire Fish and Game also thanked AT&T First Net and NH Emergency Management for their help in the search.