Top cop ‘unashamedly apologises’ to Lily Hooper’s family after they were mistakenly told the teenage hiker had been found alive – only to be given devastating news 18 minutes later
Top cop ‘unashamedly apologises’ to Lily Hooper’s family after they were mistakenly told the teenage hiker had been found alive – only to be given devastating news 18 minutes later
Lily Hooper’s body was found Thursday
An initial radio call indicated she was ‘injured’
Her family learned of her death 18 minutes later
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The family of missing hiker Lily Hooper has endured a heartbreaking ordeal in which they where told she was found alive by searchers after a week missing in a national park – before they were later informed she had died.
Lily’s parents were initially informed that SES volunteers believed their daughter was alive after she was discovered in dense bushland in the NSW Southern Highlands shortly before 11.30am on Thursday.
But just 18 minutes later, the family received an updated report confirming the devastating news and that the earlier report was a mistake.
NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon on Thursday afternoon said he regretted that the family was given false hope.
‘I unashamedly apologise for any additional trauma which this might have caused Lily’s family,’ he said.
‘But certainly, for the embarrassment and confusion that caused, the miscommunication, obviously, was born out of elation that Lily had been found.
‘Tragically, that miscommunication then led to a deflation and impact on her family.
‘Once again, I unreservedly apologise for that miscommunication.’
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The body of missing hiker Lily Hooper has been found eight days after she disappeared in the NSW Southern Highlands
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A confusing radio call meant Lily’s family believed she was alive for 18 minutes after her body was found
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NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon apologised for the misleading radio call, in which searchers said Lily was ‘injured’ not deceased
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Searchers sent a message over radios at 11.27am saying Lily had been found, to which operators requested they use a ‘water bottle analogy’ to confirm her condition, the Daily Telegraph reported.
‘Water bottle’ is a codeword used by searchers to avoid delivering upsetting news to those listening in on radios, in this case Lily’s family.
A volunteer told the radio ‘water bottle broken’, to which base operators responded: ‘You’ve found our MP (missing person), and they are injured; please relay your exact lat/long’.
The conversation immediately triggered confusion among Lily’s loved ones, who believed she was injured but alive.
Coordinators asked about Lily’s condition again at 11.45am, to which an SES volunteer confirmed she was ‘deceased’.
Heartbreaking footage showed Lily’s parents and siblings smiling, crying and hugging after hearing she was ‘injured’.
‘They’re going to get her now by the sounds of it,’ her father, Jim Hooper, told 7News.
‘Let’s wait to see her. She might be going straight to hospital, I’d say.’
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Lily’s loved ones toasted to her (above) after initially hearing she was ‘injured’, before news came through that she had died
Mr Hooper had brought his daughter’s favourite snack, classic TimTams, and her guitar to the search site on Thursday.
‘This morning I thought, “Oh TimTams! It might lure her out of the bush”,’ he said.
Lily’s mother, Kirrily Hooper, said she was glad she’d ‘washed my hair and put my good sneakers on’ to welcome her daughter home.
‘Today is the day so we’re really excited,’ Ms Hooper said.
Loved ones gathered around to cheers a few cans together while waiting to hear when they’d be reunited with Lily.
‘I was never going to give up. She’s a beautiful girl and she’s coming home,’ Mr Hooper said.
It was only minutes later they learned Lily had died.
‘I think it would be fair to say that they were informed that the initial information [was] that the searchers believed that she was alive, and that’s what was communicated,’ Assistant Commissioner Joseph Cassar APM, Southern Region Commander told reporters on Thursday afternoon.
‘But like I said, within the eight to 10 minutes, we were able to give an update, which was a more accurate account of the discovery.’
Police said the vast search area was covered in thick and dense bushland, with much of it extremely difficult to navigate.
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The experienced hiker’s body was found eight days after she disappeared while hiking in the Nattai National Park
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Rescuers were seen comforting devastated loved ones near the site on Thursday morning
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Searchers confirmed Lily was ‘deceased’ over the radio at 11.45am on Thursday
Search teams were relying on handheld communication devices to relay information back to the command post, which police acknowledged could prove challenging in the rugged terrain.
‘They’re carrying handheld communication devices, and as you can appreciate, we’ve all experienced it. Sometimes the communication is a challenge,’ Asst. Commissioner Cassar said.
He said Lily’s mother and father had spent a significant amount of time at the command post and were in regular contact with an inspector and family liaison officer.
The police defended the decision to pass on the initial information, saying officers had sought to keep the family updated at every stage rather than withholding developments until every detail had been confirmed.
‘There’s no playbook to communication,’ he said.
‘Sometimes due to whatever the circumstances may be, whether it’s not an accurate report or communication challenges, sometimes the information provided isn’t as accurate as first is received.
‘But that’s why we continually get updates on this situation.’
Asst. Commissioner Cassar was also pressed on whether officers should have done more to verify that Lily was alive before passing the information on to her parents.
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When asked by reporters what he would like to say to Lily’s family, Asst. Commissioner Cassar said he hoped he could ‘turn the clock back’
He rejected suggestions police had ‘jumped the gun’, but said circumstances surrounding the mistake would be examined.
‘We’re talking about hundreds of volunteer people that are trained in searching. We’re talking about thick, dense terrain,’ he said.
‘We are talking about processes that we’ve adopted to engage the family members to keep them informed throughout every step of the way.
‘When we talk about a very short window in information being provided, no, I don’t believe we’ve jumped the gun.
‘But I will tell you that will form part of the investigation.’
The mix-up had led NSW Premier Chris Minns to announce at a budget estimates hearing that Lily had been found alive in the bush with ‘half a bottle of water’.
Minutes later, he told the same inquiry that Lily was dead: ‘She has been found deceased, and I only raise that because I gave earlier advice.’
Minns then issued an apology via a statement shortly after speaking in NSW Parliament: ‘Advice I received earlier today relating to Lily Hooper was incorrect. I genuinely believed I was sharing good news.
