Cause of Death Revealed for Hiking Influencer Hannah Moody

The cause of death for hiking influencer Hannah Moody, whose body was discovered near an Arizona trail in May, has been determined.

Her primary cause of death was listed as “environmental heat exposure,” according to the Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office. Her manner of death was determined to be accidental.

Moody, 31, was previously reported as a missing person on May 21, at around 7:50 p.m. by concerned friends. Her body was discovered 600 yards off-trail just after noon the next day by the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Air Unit, near the Gateway Trailhead of the McDowell Sonoran Preserve.

The Scottsdale Police Department said in a press release on May 23 that officers “began search efforts on foot, with drones and assistance from a Phoenix Police Department helicopter.”

“Search efforts continued for Hannah for approximately four and a half hours until around 11:30 p.m., when the search was called off for the evening,” they added.

The SPD’s statement continued, “Search efforts picked back up the morning of May 22, with 20-plus officers on bicycles, on foot, with drones, and with the assistance of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office search and rescue team and air unit.”

The statement concluded, “Other individuals showed up and assisted with the search efforts as well.”

Moody was a Christian influencer with over 44,000 followers on Instagram who regularly shared content online about her religious beliefs and her affinity for hiking in Arizona.

“She was somebody who really enjoyed meeting people and didn’t like remaining strangers with folks,” Moody’s brother, Joel Moody, told the Arizona Republic.

He continued, “She really wanted to make sure not only that she met people, but that when she did that they felt loved.”

Her friend Megan Pasquel, a Phoenix resident, told the outlet, “She was the type of person that would go out of her way to make a stranger’s day, whether it was complimenting them or buying (them) coffee. And just always having a smile on her face, always being very kind to anyone she met.”

Pasquel is organizing a sunrise hike in honor of what would have been her friend’s 32nd birthday on May 31 at the McDowell Sonoran Conservancy’s Gateway Trailhead, located at Thompson Peak Parkway and Windgate Ranch Road, per Arizona Republic.