A Kentucky doctor who missed her cruise ship in Alaska has been found dead on a mountain trail.
Dr. Marites Buenafe, 62, was visiting Juneau, Alaska’s capital, last week when she failed to return from a hike before her cruise ship, the Norwegian Bliss, departed, per the New York Post.
The Alaska Department of Public Safety said her body was found late Thursday by an Alaska Army National Guard helicopter crew 1,700 feet below the ridge line of Gold Ridge.
State troopers and Juneau Mountain Rescue were able to recover Buenafe’s body with help from Temsco Helicopters and the National Guard.
Her family has been notified, and her body will be sent to the state’s medical examiner’s office for an autopsy, officials said.
The cause of her death has not been immediately determined.
“We are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of the guest,” a spokesperson for Norwegian Cruise Line said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Our CARE team is providing support to the guest’s family and our thoughts are with them during this difficult time.”
Dr. Buenafe, a Lexington native who worked for more than two decades at University of Kentucky Healthcare, was on the trip with two family members.
She had planned to hike a popular trail from Gold Ridge to Gastineau Peak after taking a tourist tram partially up the mountain that morning.
On July 1, the Juneau Police Department heard from Buenafe’s relatives that she had left for the hike but had not returned by the cruise’s departure time of 1:30PM.
The 62-year-old was reported missing around 3:20PM, and her family, including her mother and sister, flew back to Juneau after the ship set sail again at 1:45PM.
Melody Buenafe, Dr. Buenafe’s sister, wrote on Facebook Wednesday morning that she had last received a text from her sibling at 7:35AM and knew the cruise’s departure time. “No answers to our numerous texts and phone calls,” she added.
Dr. Buenafe was last seen on surveillance footage at 7:30AM Tuesday at the top of the Mount Roberts Tramway, a well-known spot with views of Juneau and the Gastineau Channel, per the Independent.
Three stills from the footage, shared by Melody, showed Dr. Buenafe wearing dark trousers and a jacket, a spotted navy bandana, and a maroon backpack.
Search and rescue teams deployed drones, helicopters, and dogs as they concentrated efforts in the mountains just south of downtown Juneau, an area Alaska Department of Public Safety spokesperson Austin McDaniel noted was not especially remote.
Overcast and rainy weather late Wednesday limited aerial searches before her body was discovered on Thursday.
“Troopers and Juneau Mountain Rescue were able to recover her body with the assistance of Temsco Helicopters and the National Guard,” state troopers said in a statement Thursday evening.
Juneau is a popular cruise ship destination, with many visitors often staying close to the developed area that includes the tram.
However, there are still areas of snow on the local peaks, and officials warn that even well-trodden trails can quickly become dangerous.
“Trips into Alaska’s backcountry can go from expected easy day trips to very challenging with one wrong step or fall,” McDaniel cautioned, urging visitors to familiarize themselves with the area and to pack extra clothes, food, and water.
Our thoughts go out to Dr. Buenafe’s family and loved ones at this time.