A 20-year-old woman has gone missing from a popular hiking trail at Lafayette Place Campground in Franconia on Sunday, November 20, 2022.

Emily Sotelo intended to hike through Mount Lafayette, Haystack and Flume, according to the New Hampshire Fish and Game Law Enforcement Division.

A missing report was filed after Sotelo failed to return from the hike as temperatures dropped to near zero, with 30- to 40-mph winds making area -30 degrees.

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Authorities launched a search for the missing hiker. A National Guard Blackhawk helicopter was also involved in the search operation.

Sotelo, who is from Westford, Massachusetts, is 5 feet 3 inches tall and 115 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes. She was last seen wearing a brown jacket and exercise pants.

Around 18 local search parties were looking for the woman throughout November 20 and 21, but she was not located.

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Michael Eastman, the Fish and Game Captain, spoke about the hiking conditions on the trail that Emily Sotelo chose, saying: “It certainly can be done in a day. A hiker in good shape can probably do it in no time in summer conditions, but the conditions we had yesterday — high winds, temperatures, varied conditions — you have, in the higher elevations, snow up to your chest.”

Anyone with information on the hiker’s whereabouts is being urged to contact NH State Police Dispatch at (603) 271-1170. Officials have also requested hikers who encountered Sotelo to notify New Hampshire State Police.

Andrew Azorian, a hiker from Merrimack stated: “From what they say, I’m going to be taking pretty much the same route that she was planning to take. So, I’m definitely going to keep my eyes out and be vigilant.”