Sorrow as community pays tribute to ‘shining light’ Lily Hooper after NSW hiking tragedy

The 18-year-old remembered as a talented athlete with an infectious smile and ‘one of those people who everyone simply liked’

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Tributes have flowed for 18-year-old Lily Hooper, remembered as an adventurous, multitalented athlete with an infectious smile, after her body was found on Thursday afternoon, eight days after she disappeared while hiking in the New South Wales southern highlands.

The teenager was a fixture across local sporting and community groups in the Wollondilly region, training in martial arts, alongside her job as a Sydney BridgeClimb guide.

In her home town of Oakdale, the community gathered for a vigil on Friday evening at Willis park. By Saturday morning, the park fence was adorned with flowers, fairy lights and electric candles.

The Wollondilly Performing Arts Centre and the shire library were illuminated in purple. The mayor, Matt Gould, said on Friday that the community had rarely been as devastated.

“From 5pm this afternoon and across the weekend, Willis Park at Oakdale will become a place for our community to come together and remember Lily Hooper,” Gould said, adding that Red Cross volunteers were on site “to support anyone who may need someone to talk to”.

“[It’s] just an opportunity for everyone to come together and show the level of support there is for the family, and just to look out for each other.”

Flags across the region, including at the Oakdale Rural Fire Service, flew at half mast. The brigade said in a statement that the community is navigating a “deep sorrow … as we all remember the shining light that has touched so many of us”.

‘A talented and tough martial artist’

Hooper trained at Toodokan Self Defence Academy, which cancelled classes on Thursday afternoon after the news. The academy said in a tribute that Lily was “a beautiful soul, taken far too soon”.

Her martial arts instructor, Mark Szalajko, said he would miss her smile and conversation, describing her as a talented, tough fighter.

“She was a talented and tough martial artist, but despite that toughness, Lily was such a lovely person. She was one of those people who everyone simply liked,” he said. “I will really miss her smile, her conversations and the moments we shared on the mat.”

Further tributes came from the Oaks Netball Club, which said it was “devastated by the loss”, with members to wear black armbands in her memory at games over the weekend.

The Burragorang District Soccer Club also posted a tribute on social media in Hooper’s honour: “Our community has lost a truly beautiful person, and our hearts are heavy with sadness.”

Hooper’s high school, Campbelltown Performing Arts – where she graduated in 2025 – remembered her as a “kind, humorous and respectful young woman who lit up every room with her infectious smile, positive energy and determination to live life to its fullest”.

“I am so proud of the woman you became … You are so loved my musical angel,” one commenter wrote under the school’s tribute.

Another commented “I feel incredibly privileged to have known her and to have shared so many memorable moments with her. What I will remember most is the loyalty she had for her beautiful best friends.”

Sydney Harbour BridgeClimb, where Hooper worked as a guide, issued a statement saying she was “an absolute delight from the moment she joined and lit up every space with her smile and enthusiasm”.

“She was compassionate, a friend to all, motivated and had a positive impact on everyone she connected with,” a spokesperson said. “Her loss is felt deeply throughout our team, and Lily’s family and loved ones are in our thoughts and our hearts, today and always.”

Police initially told Hooper’s family she was alive , with footage circulated by Channel Seven showing the elation of friends and family. Her father, Jim Hooper, showed off a guitar and packet of Tim Tams he had brought to the site “because it might lure her out of the bush”. Hope was shattered barely 30 minutes later.

The police commissioner, Mal Lanyon, later told reporters in Goulburn that the devastating miscommunication was “born out of elation”.

“Tragically, that miscommunication then led to a deflation, and obviously, we know now, an impact on her family,” Lanyon said.

The assistant commissioner Joseph Cassar told reporters in Moss Vale on Thursday afternoon that the searchers had carried handheld radios and faced communication challenges in the “thick, dense terrain”.

Hooper, an experienced hiker, had been found dead off the trail, a “significant distance” from her car.

The Wollondilly Rotary Club established a fundraiser to support the Hooper family after her disappearance.

“Lily’s kindness, spirit, and connection to the Oakdale and Wollondilly regions, along with her family, has touched many lives, and our club is committed to standing beside her family during this difficult time,” the club said in a statement.