Walker Engulfed By Avalanche After Leaving Buddhist Retreat

A mountain hiker missing since she left a Buddhist retreat two months ago has been found dead after she was apparently swept away by an avalanche.

The barefoot body of Adriana Jordan Elmore, 22, was discovered surrounded by snow and ice on a trail near the Austrian ski resort Hohe Scharte.

American national Adriana – who had Asperger’s Syndrome – had last been seen on 17th March when she left the Rangjung Yeshe Gomde meditation centre.

Walkers found her body near Lake Laudach, in the district of Gmunden on Sunday, 30th April, just outside an earlier mountain rescue search area.

Adriana Jordan Elmore, aged 22, poses in undated photo. She was found dead near Lake Laudach in the town of Gmunden, Upper Austria State, Austria, on Sunday, April 30, 2023. (Newsflash)

Her backpack, shoes and personal documents were found nearby.

Adriana – from the city of Ringgold, Georgia State, USA – had originally been tracked to the area by her mobile phone signal.

But rescuers abandoned the search believing she’d been engulfed by an avalanche.

Investigators believe Adriana died after falling while hiking, but are waiting for an autopsy to reveal her cause of death.

Local media reported that this was not the first time she had gone missing.

She disappeared aged just 14, from her US home in 2015.

At the time, Catoosa County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement obtained by Newsflash: “Based on prior events and statements she made to her siblings about wanting to ‘cross the mountain’ it is believed Adriana left on foot into the wooded area on the east side of Taylors Ridge and headed west towards Taylors Ridge.”

Adriana Jordan Elmore poses at the age of 14, undated photo. She was found dead near Lake Laudach in the town of Gmunden, Upper Austria State, Austria, on Sunday, April 30, 2023. (Catoosa County Sheriff’s Office/Newsflash)
Adriana Jordan Elmore poses at the age of 14, undated photo. She was found dead near Lake Laudach in the town of Gmunden, Upper Austria State, Austria, on Sunday, April 30, 2023. (Catoosa County Sheriff’s Office/Newsflash)

She was found about 200 miles away in Gatlinburg, Tennessee State, after a photographer spotted her two days after she went missing.


To find out more about the author, editor or agency that supplied this story – please click below.
Story By: Georgina Jadikovska, Sub-Editor: Marija Stojkoska, Agency:  Newsflash

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