A University of North Carolina A student who was in South Africa for an internship was found dead after she went missing during a hike on Table Mountain in Cape Town, authorities said Monday.
Brook Cheuvront, 20, of Newland, North Carolina, was reported missing on Saturday after a tracking app she was using stopped updating and friends were unable to reach her, SANParks spokesman JP Louw said.
The management of SANParks, which manages Table Mountain and other national parks, said the cause of death was still unclear and an investigation into her death had been launched.
An initial search was conducted by rangers, wilderness search and rescue members and trail runners until late Saturday night when it was no longer practical to continue, Louw said. An aircraft joined the search the next day and helped locate the body.
The 20-year-old was second at UNC and one Morehead-Cain Scholar who was in South Africa for an internship at the University of Cape Town, CBS affiliate WNCN reported. She was the 2022 valedictorian at Avery County High School, where she was a track runner.
In one Facebook postsCheuvront’s family said they were “devastated.”
“She recovered. We are devastated. God help me and us,” wrote Steve Cheuvront.
South African authorities have urged people to avoid hiking on their own, and suggest doing so in groups of at least four people.
In one posts on social media on Monday, SANParks said suggestions that there are “growing concerns about crime” at Table Mountain are “speculative and may cause unnecessary alarm that undermines worthy and successful efforts.”
“Over the past year, official crime statistics have dropped drastically from 16 and 32 in October and November 2023 respectively to 6 in July 2024 and 3 in August 2024,” the post said.
The post did not mention Cheuvront or any other recent incidents.