Ann Herford, FNP, a traveling nurse practitioner from Michigan who went missing while walking in California last month, was found dead Thursday, the government says.
Herford, 66, had last been seen on November 12 near the trailhead for the Arnold Rim Trail in Arnold, California. Her car remained parked at the site, triggering a weeks-long search in the area for her whereabouts.
According to a news release from the Calaveras County Sheriff’s Office, she was found dead Thursday on “a sloping hillside under a thick canopy of trees and dense foliage,” north of where she originally parked her vehicle. Herford’s body discovered the trail formula in the open air after efforts expanded to reach “aerial and ground searches in the dense forest of tall trees, thick manzanita and mountainous terrain. “
Her “tragic death is not suspicious,” the sheriff’s office stated.
“At this point we know it was strictly an accident,” the sergeant said. Chad Poortinga of the Calaveras County Sheriff’s Office previously told MedPage Today.
According to Calaveras County Coroner Kevin Raggio, Herford died.
“She’s hiking and she’s not ready in the right clothes,” he told MedPage Today. Herford discovered her dressed in shorts, a hoodie and a T-shirt.
“It was cold,” he said, estimating the elevation in that area to be somewhere between 3,500 and 4,000 feet. Raggio suspects she got out there, got lost, and couldn’t find her way out.
In January 2021, Herford’s husband, Don, a farmer who owns a transmission repair business, passed away. The couple married in 1977 and had “a lot of adventures” together, according to Don’s obituary.
Joe Fibranz, a family friend, told the Huron Daily Tribune that applying to be a nurse practitioner helped Herford cope with the loss of her husband. “She’s a really great, hard-working person,” he told the Tribune a few days later. his disappearance. ” She’s like a mom to me. “
Herford cared for patients in other parts of Michigan and also worked for a time on a Native American reservation in the Southwest, Fibanz said. She’s an avid hiker, she noted, and California might have been her favorite place to visit.
Brandon Neal, Herford’s nephew, hiked with his aunt and told KCRA Sacramento he loves hiking and exploring new places.
On November 14, Herford failed to show up for work at Adventist Health in Sonora, California, and colleagues reported her missing the following day.
His colleague Anna Wettengel called Herford “incredible. ” He told KCRA that at their first meeting, Herford had “the biggest smile on his face. . . I was really excited to come and help in any way I could. “
Shannon Firth has been reporting on fitness policies as MedPage Today’s Washington correspondent since 2014. He is a member of the Enterprise team.