American hiker found dead on South African mountain

An American woman who disappeared while hiking on South Africa's Table Mountain has been found dead, officials said.

Brook Cheuvront, a student from North Carolina, completed an internship with an NGO in Cape Town.

The 20-year-old student was reported missing on Saturday after a tracking app she used during a solo hike stopped updating and she could not be reached.

Her body was discovered on Sunday in a mountain setting called Devil's Peak, police told local media.

South African National Parks (SANParks), which manages Table Mountain and other national parks, said the hiker left her room at midday to climb the mountain.

Her friends called the police when there were no updates on her tracking app and they couldn't reach her by phone.

Rangers and search and rescue teams conducted a quick search, but it was called off late Saturday.

The next day, the search was aided by a helicopter, which helped find her body on the mountain slopes.

“The circumstances of the hiker’s death are still under investigation,” SANParks said said in a statement.

Police said an autopsy would be performed to determine the possible cause of death.

SANParks said the investigation into Cheuvront's death was ongoing.

In a Facebook postCheuvront's father said the family was “devastated”.

“God help me and us,” wrote Steve Cheuvront.

She was a student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and completed an internship at a non-governmental organization (NG0).

South African authorities have denied that there is a problem with crime in Table Mountain National Park, but urged visitors in a separate post not to hike alone.