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Body of woman who vanished on Mt. Baldy recovered

The body of a hiker who went missing on Mount Baldy was recovered Sunday morning, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department. 

Lifei Huang, 22, from El Monte was last seen alive on Feb. 4, when she went out on a solo hike at around 2 p.m. that day. 

Crews searched the area throughout the week but were forced to retreat due to increasingly unsafe conditions after a winter snowstorm hit the area.

Lifei Huang, 22, went missing during a hike on Mt. Baldy on Feb. 4, 2024.

On Saturday, a citizen told the U.S. Forest Service that they believed they spotted Huang from a drone. Deputies along with search and rescue crews were dispatched and tried to reach the location, but were unable to do so due to unsafe conditions.

It was not until around 7:45 a.m. Sunday that a sheriff’s department air rescue aircraft recovered Huang’s body from the location, law enforcement officials confirmed.

“We would like to thank all our personnel and volunteers that aided in the search, as well as the citizen that alerted U.S. Forestry,” the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement.

Huang’s cause of death was not immediately released.