Sister of missing hiker found in Zion National Park addresses questions about disappearance
The sister of a missing hiker found in Zion National Park 12 days after she disappeared opened up about her loved one’s declining mental state and her experience in the wilderness after local authorities questioned her account.
Holly Courtier was found alive on Sunday, 12 days after she vanished for a solo hike at the Utah park earlier this month. Her older sister, Jaime Strong, said the 38-year-old was not in a good head space when she left for “a journey of fasting,” on Oct. 6
Courtier started making trips to national parks across the country after she lost her nannying job amid the coronavirus pandemic, her family has said.
"I really think she had a mental breakdown and was not in the right state of mind when she decided to take this journey and not tell people where she was going,” Strong told NBC’s “Today.”
Her family has previously said Courtier, an experienced hiker, hit her head on a tree shortly after arriving at the park. She quickly became dehydrated and disoriented but still managed to set up camp by a river. Sgt. Darrell Cashin, a liaison for the search and rescue team asked to assist in finding Courtier, earlier this week questioned the narrative, specifically noting the body of water was nearly toxic due to algae bloom.
“If she had been drinking that water, unless she had some really high immune system, she would’ve been very, very ill and probably unable to come out on her own,” Cashin told ABC4.
“She either took a lot of water with her or had another clean water source that was near here, but the Virgin River is not that source.”
Cashin also pointed out that Courtier was able to walk out of the park with her family and that paramedics on the scene did not feel the need to hospitalize her.
Strong pushed back against Cashin’s skepticism in her interview with “Today,” explaining that her sister didn’t drink from the river other than wetting her lips and spitting the water back out.
“She said she didn’t have anything to drink at all,” Strong said.
“There was a statement made that she said she set up camp because she wanted to stay close to the river, but we were never implying that she drank the water. She was very well aware of the toxins in the river.”
Strong took issue with her sister’s story getting “twisted,” noting that Courtier was “scared and traumatized” by the ordeal. She said that when officials found her at the park, she was “emaciated” and down at least 15 lbs.
While the National Park Service said her sister was able to “leave of her own capability with minimal assistance,” Strong said it was simply due to adrenaline and that her family drove her straight to the hospital.
“It’s just so blown out of proportion,” said Strong.
Courtier has since checked into a mental wellness facility.
