U.S. college student found dead after hike on South Africa’s Table Mountain

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (WNCN/NEXSTAR) – A University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill student studying abroad who vanished during a hike while in South Africa has been found dead, park officials confirmed Monday.

Brook Cecilia Cheuvront, 20, of Newland, was reported missing Saturday after she left around noon for a hike on Table Mountain in Cape Town.

Her friends didn’t hear from her after she left, and the tracking app she used didn’t register any updates, according to JP Louw, South African National Parks (SANParks) head of communications.

SANParks rangers, Wilderness Search and Rescue members and trail runners looked for Cheuvront Saturday and the following morning but were unable to find her.

Louw said a City of Cape Town piloted aircraft ultimately located Cheuvront’s body on a slope of the mountain. The cause of death was unclear Monday as authorities continued to investigate.

SANParks recommends Table Mountain visitors hike in a group of four or more and save the Table Mountain National Park emergency number into your phone before embarking.

Cheuvront, a UNC sophomore and a Morehead-Cain Scholar, was on an internship at the University of Cape Town.

Cheuvront was the 2022 valedictorian of Avery County High School, where she was a cross-country runner.

Cheuvront’s mother is a teacher at the high school and sporting events were canceled there for Monday, officials at the school said.

“SANParks extends its sincere condolences to the family of the deceased during this difficult time,” Louw wrote in a news release.