SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – Heartbreak and sadness.
It’s unmistakable as tears are wiped away from the eyes of those in the parking lot of Hilltop Community Park on Monday morning.
“Right now, I just have a hard time processing the information,” Jimmy Thai, the Founder of Build A School Foundation, said.
Many were on their phones to let people know that information; San Diego Police said a body believed to be a 50-year-old woman - Diem Nguyen - who went missing during a group hike on Black Mountain was found.
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“It’s really hard for me [to] say anything. But our hearts go out to Diem’s family, her sister, her children and her nephews,” Thai said.
Thai told 10News that his nonprofit organized the hike and didn’t know Nguyen well.
But he said they hadn’t left Nguyen’s sister's side since she went missing.
“But we’ve been very close to her. We try to be a comfort, you know, for her in this difficult time. But that’s all I know because this is the first time I saw all of them,” Thai said.
Thai, who said his nonprofit organized the hike, said they do fundraising hikes like these all the time, which include safety briefings, having people hike and mark the trail and sweepers checking for the last person off the trail.
“I have to say in the eight years history of Build A School Foundation with a 154 projects we built in nine countries, this is probably the saddest moment of my life,” Thai said.
On Wednesday, the Medical Examiner's Office confirmed the body was Nguyen's. It did not release a cause of death.
