‘We’re going to find her today’: Father’s impassioned plea for missing bushwalker

The father of a hiker missing in bushland near Sydney said he is joining the search for his daughter and called for people to continue to hope for her safe return.

Lily Hooper, 18, was last seen leaving a home on Burragorang Road at Oakdale in Sydney’s south-west at 8am on Wednesday.

The teenager, an experienced bushwalker, told people she was going for a hike in the Nattai National Park.

She had her mobile phone with her but authorities have been unable to contact her since and she has not returned.

Her father, Jim Hooper, spoke to 2SM Radio on Monday, saying he was preparing to join the search for Lily as it enters it fifth day.

“I’m Lily Hooper’s dad, and I just wanted to bring up, I’m very upset,” he said after calling in to the radio station.

“I want to just project positive energy and love, and we’re going to find her today.

“I’m going back down there now, just putting my boots on. I just want everyone to throw love and energy, because we’ve got to go and find her.

“We’ve got to find this kid.”

He admitted he was at a loss to figure out why Lily has gone missing.

“It’s like she’s just been vanished off the planet, I don’t know. I just can’t make it out,” Hooper said.

“Normally they’d find something... I mean, she’s a tough kid, she’s a tough girl, that’s why I can’t understand why she didn’t come out.

“It is a very rough terrain down there… it is very cold.”

He added that he believed his daughter took food with her, but potentially did not expect the trail she went on to be as difficult as it may have been.

Police on Monday confirmed no clues have been found despite an extensive search.

NSW Police Acting Inspector Benjamin Carey said on Sunday they are looking at a certain trail.

“This is very much still remains a search and rescue operation and will continue until we find Lily,” he said on Monday.

The SES has had around 200 of its members searching, including specialist bush rescue teams.

They are battling heavy fog, biting winds, falling temperatures and tough country.

“We’re talking cliff lines, valleys and gorges, creeks some of them are not commonly tracked and that’s where we’re utilising our resources,” Nick Healey, SES deputy unit commander, said.

Temperatures in the area have dropped to as low as 4 degrees, but it’s felt as cold as -3.

The teenager’s car was found on Friday near the Bonnum Pic Walking Trail on Wanganderry Road via Wombeyan Caves Road in High Range.

Lily was last seen wearing a shirt and shorts.

She is about 175cm tall, with a slim build with long blonde hair and blue eyes.

Anyone with information or who may have been on the Bonnum Pic track should contact Crime Stoppers.