UNC student from Avery County found dead in South Africa

Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa. (Schalk van Zuydam / AP Photo)

JOHANNESBURG — An Avery County woman who went missing while on a hike on Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa, was found dead, authorities said on Monday.

Brook Cheuvront, a 20-year-old UNC Chapel Hill student who was interning with a human rights group in South Africa, was reported missing on Saturday after a tracking app she was using stopped updating and friends could not reach her, said SANParks spokesman JP Louw.

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The management of SANParks, which manages Table Mountain and other national parks, said the cause of death was still unclear and an inquest into her death has been opened.

An initial search was conducted by rangers, wilderness search and rescue members, and trail runners until late Saturday evening when it was no longer practical to continue, said Louw. An aircraft joined the search the next day and helped to locate the body.

Cheuvront was from Newland and a Morehead-Cain scholar at UNC.

South African authorities have urged people to avoid hiking on their own, suggesting it be done in groups of at least four people.