Obituaries
Influencer Who Died Hiking Hailed From East Bay: School District
Hannah Moody, the 31-year-old found dead on an Arizona hiking trail, graduated Granada High School in Livermore, the school confirmed.
LIVERMORE, CA — Hannah Moody, the popular Instagram influencer who died while hiking in Arizona, is a 2011 graduate of Granada High School, school officials confirmed. Further details about her time in Livermore were not immediately available.
Moody, 31, was found dead May 22 near the Gateway Trailhead of the McDowell Sonoran Preserve in Scottsdale, about a third of a mile from the trail. She had been reported missing the night before, according to authorities. Her car was still in the parking lot.
Moody frequently posted about her love of hiking on her Instagram account, which has about 45,000 followers. She was found dead following an extensive search involving over 20 officers on drones and helicopters, according to the Scottsdale Police Department.
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“We are devastated, and words can’t fully express the loss we feel. Hannah was a light in this world—bold, beautiful, kind, and deeply faithful,” her friend wrote in a GoFundMe page that has raised $3,051 as of Friday.
“Yeah, it’s been...it’s numbing. I feel like it’s not real,” her mother Terri told Arizona’s Family.
While the Maricopa County Office of the Medical Examiner has not yet released her official cause of death, many believe that it was heat-related. According to Arizona’s Family, it was 102 degrees outside the day of Moody’s hike.
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“We have preliminary data shared by the Scottsdale Fire Department that shows the hottest months are actually not the most dangerous months, because people are taking the heat seriously — they’re avoiding going outside during those months,” Brian Whitehead, a senior program manager at the McDowell Sonoran Conservancy, told SFGate.
“But the shoulder seasons, like April/May and September/October, [are] when warm days catch people by surprise. Even locals who have spent all winter outside are not used to the heat anymore, which means most of our heat rescues happen during the shoulder seasons.”
Anyone who knew Hannah during her time in Livermore is encouraged to contact michael.wittner@patch.com.
— Patch staffer Chris Lindahl contributed reporting.
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