Big Sur hikers recount discovery of woman found dead near hot springs
By Felix Cortez
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MONTEREY COUNTY, California (KSBW) — A hike into the Big Sur wilderness turned deadly for a woman whose body was found Thursday afternoon along the Pine Ridge Trail near Sykes Hot Springs.
Her body was discovered Thursday morning by a group of hikers who spoke with KSBW after returning from their two-night hike in the backcountry.
“I didn’t see any blood. She was pale. She had markings around her neck. I don’t want to say, you know, choking marks, but when the firefighter lifted the jacket, he confirmed that she had a big gash on her head,” hiker Gabe Holmes said.
Weather and darkness prevented search-and-rescue crews from recovering the woman’s body until Friday afternoon, but her death is now being treated as suspicious by the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office.
The hikers said they also came across a man who claimed to be the woman’s friend. They said he appeared cold and was shaking.
“Scared, nervous, like shocked, his face just, like, numb and dull,” hiker John Heerema said.
“On one hand, we didn’t know if he was just having the worst day of his life or, on the other, like he had just killed someone, so I just went in with, like, all right, just be ultra-cautious, slow things down and make sure everyone’s safe,” his brother, Luke Heerema, added.
When the hikers asked what happened, the woman’s friend told them this:
“She went to the bathroom. She was cleaning herself off in the river around 10:30 a.m., and he went looking for her and then just saw her face down in the water, naked,” Luke Heerema said.
The hikers also gave statements to first responders, but the woman’s cause of death is unknown and no one is in custody. The concern is how a woman could go hiking on a popular Big Sur trail and never make it out alive.
“That’s all I could think about, just how their family and friends will feel, you know, losing a loved one like that. It’s supposed to be a trip out in nature, you know, to escape everything and get away from all the horrible things in the world. And that happens. It’s just atrocious,” hiker Jack Cileo said.
A key part of the investigation will be the woman’s autopsy: What was her cause of death, and was foul play involved?
The sheriff’s office also noted there is no current threat to anyone hiking or camping near Sykes Hot Springs.
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