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Get you up to speed: Missing teenager Lily Hooper found dead after police said she was alive | News World
Lily Hooper, an 18-year-old, was found dead in Nattai National Park, New South Wales, after a search operation was launched following her disappearance during a hike. Initial reports mistakenly indicated that she had been rescued alive, but authorities later confirmed that her body had been located and that it was believed to be hers.
New South Wales Police are investigating the communication errors that led to the premature announcement of Lily Hooper’s rescue. The woman’s body, believed to be that of Lily, was discovered in a challenging terrain characterised by dense eucalyptus forest and deep ravines, and has yet to be formally identified.
New South Wales premier Chris Minns expressed profound sadness at the tragic news, stating, “This is obviously devastating and I’m just profoundly sad for her family and all those concerned.” Police and government officials are investigating the miscommunication that led to the erroneous announcement of Lily Hooper’s rescue and will prepare a report for the coroner as the investigation continues.
What remains unclear — The identity of the body found in the search area has yet to be formally confirmed by authorities.
Missing teenager Lily Hooper found dead after earlier false report of rescue
A missing teenager has been found dead after officials mistakenly announced that she had been rescued following an eight-day search in the Australian bushland.
Lily Hooper, 18, disappeared after setting off for a hike in Nattai National Park, around 90 miles south-west of Sydney, last Wednesday.
Her family raised the alarm after she failed to return home, despite her being in contact with them throughout the day.
A major search operation was then launched in the national park, with police, volunteers and around 100 soldiers.
On Thursday, New South Wales premier Chris Minns was attending a parliamentary hearing when he was handed a note telling him the teenager had been found.
Lily Hooper, 18, disappeared after setting off in Nattai National Park (Picture: Facebook/VRA Rescue NSW)
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He then announced the news to the room, saying: ‘We’ve got some fantastic news, Mr Chair – Lily Hooper has been found alive.’
After claiming that she had been found in the bush with half a bottle of water, the apparent rescue was quickly reported by media outlets in Australia.
However, shortly afterwards, Minns confirmed that his announcement was incorrect, as he said: ‘I’ve got some terrible news. It seems as if the earlier advice was wrong.
‘Lily’s body has been found. This is obviously devastating and I’m just profoundly sad for her family and all those concerned.’
A major search operation was launched in the national park (Picture: Facebook/VRA Rescue NSW)
Lily had originally left her home in Oakdale, near Sydney, at 8am on August 12.
Her car was found at 11pm the same day in a picnic ground at the base of Bonnum Pic, which is a walking trail for experienced hikers.
Lily’s family raised the alarm after she failed to return home (Picture: NSW Police)
The area is covered by dense eucalyptus forest, sandstone cliffs and deep ravines, with rescuers describing the terrain as ‘incredibly rough’.
Lily’s family had also joined the search as rescuers remained hopeful that her experience in the bush would help her survive.
The terrain was described by rescuers as ‘extremely tough’ (Picture: Facebook/VRA Rescue NSW)
On Thursday, ambulances were then sent to the bushland after rescuers reported finding a person in the bushland.
New South Wales Police assistant commissioner Joseph Cassar said Lily’s parents had initially been told rescuers believed their daughter had been found alive.
Cassar said volunteers searching through the thick terrain were dealing with communication difficulties and had contacted the command post after locating her.
However, an updated report was sent around eight to 10 minutes later, confirming that she had died, with Lily’s parents then being informed.
‘If we were able to provide them more detailed information on that first report, I can tell you that would have been the case,’ Cassar said.
‘If I could turn the clock back, I would certainly.’
Police and government officials are now investigating how the incorrect information was passed on.
New South Wales Police said the woman’s body found in the search area had yet to be formally identified, but it is believed to be that of Lily’s. Police will now also prepare a report for the coroner.
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October 12, 2024
6:18 am
‘Cheer up, you caught the bad guy,’ says killer Virginia McCullough as she is arrested for murdering her parents
A woman who murdered her parents “in cold blood” before hiding them in makeshift tombs for four years told officers to “cheer up, you caught the bad guy” as she was arrested in her home.
Virginia McCullough, 36, poisoned her father John McCullough, 70, with prescription medication and fatally stabbed her mother Lois McCullough, 71, shortly afterwards in 2019.
She ran up large debts on credit cards in her parents’ names and after their deaths, she continued to spend their pensions until she was finally caught in 2023.
In body-worn video footage released by police, a handcuffed – and eerily calm – McCullough told officers: “I did know that this would kind of come eventually.
“It’s proper that I serve my punishment.”
She said she had slipped something into her father’s drink then put his body under a bed on the ground floor, and put her mother’s body in an upstairs wardrobe.
McCullough, having been arrested on suspicion of double murder, told an officer: “Cheer up, at least you’ve caught the bad guy.”
She added: “I know I don’t seem 100% evil.”
At the police station, she told officers where a kitchen knife was, which she described as a “murder weapon”, and a hammer which she said “will still have blood on it”.
McCullough, of Pump Hill, Chelmsford, Essex, was sentenced to life imprisonment on Friday with a minimum term of 36 years at Chelmsford Crown Court, after she admitted to their murders between 17 and 20 June 2019 at an earlier hearing at the same court.
Chelmsford Crown Court heard how she hid their bodies in makeshift tombs at the family home in Great Baddow in Essex, then told persistent lies to cover her tracks.
The court heard she cancelled family arrangements and frequently told doctors and relatives her parents were unwell, on holiday or away on lengthy trips.
But concerns over Mr and Mrs McCullough’s welfare were raised in September 2023 by a GP at their registered practice, and Essex County Council’s safeguarding team referred these to police.
The GP had not seen the couple for some time and said Mr McCullough had failed to collect medication and attend scheduled appointments. It was found McCullough had frequently cancelled appointments, using a range of excuses to explain her father’s absence.
Police said a missing persons investigation was initially launched and McCullough lied to officers, claiming her parents were travelling and would be returning in October.
It became a murder investigation, and when officers forced entry to the house in Pump Hill on September 15 2023, McCullough confessed that her parents’ bodies were in the house and that she had killed them.
Nicola Rice, a specialist prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “McCullough callously and viciously killed both of her parents before concealing their bodies in makeshift tombs within their home address.
“She spent the next four years manipulating and lying to family members, medical staff, financial institutions, and the police, spending her parents’ money and accruing large debts in their name.”
She added: “This was a truly disturbing case, which has left behind it a trail of devastation, and I can only hope that the sentence passed today will help those who loved and cared for Lois and John begin to heal.”
To downplay the genocide, the israelis claim there’s only 20,000 people left in north Gaza, says
@MahaGaza
: the real number exceeds 400,000
Man of the right wing Nigel Farage taking more second jobs and freebie helicopter rides
Gosh he’ll soon be a true blue Tory at this rate
Or far far worse
The cost-of-living crisis is far from over, yet the government’s 50% increase to the bus fare cap is a political choice, adding hundreds to annual costs.
To address hardship & the climate crisis, the government must keep the £2 cap & make public transport accessible for all.
G20 waters down support for Ukraine amid pressure for peace talks
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November 23, 2024
8:25 am
Defense alliance NATO chief Mark Rutte has met US President-elect Donald Trump to discuss global security issues, according to a NATO spokesperson.
The meeting took place in Palm Beach, Florida.
During his first term as US president, 2017-2020, Trump pushed for European NATO countries to spend more on defense and described the alliance’s cost-sharing as unfair to the US.
Rutte took over as NATO chief from Norwegian Jens Stoltenberg in November.
Before taking office in January, Trump has nominated Pete Hegseth for the post of defense secretary, which has raised eyebrows among many allies.
Hegseth, 44, has served as an infantry captain in Iraq and Afghanistan, but has no senior military or government officer experience.
November 23, 2024
8:25 am
November 23, 2024
8:17 am
Multiple missiles were fired in an airstrike towards a densely populated part of Lebanon’s capital early on Saturday.
The huge airstrike targeted Beirut’s Basta neighbourhood, and no prior warnings were given by the Israeli military. The largely residential area was struck last month.
At least one violent explosion was heard across the city, Reuters witnesses said, and plumes of smoke could be seen. Scenes of massive destruction at the site were shared online, including a massive crater in the ground.
“Beirut, the capital, woke up to a horrific massacre, as the Israeli enemy’s air force completely destroyed an eight-story residential building with five missiles on Al-Mamoun Street in Basta,” the state-run National News Agency reported.
The health ministry put the initial death toll at four, with 23 wounded. The number is expected to climb in the coming hours as search and rescue efforts continue.
It came after a long day of Israeli airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs, which have been non-stop since last week.
The cross-border fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group escalated into a full-blown war in mid-September.
Israel has bombed southern Lebanon, Beirut’s southern suburbs and the eastern Beqaa region, and has sent ground troops across the border. Hezbollah has continued to fire rockets deeper into Israel.
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