Body of missing woman found near Mohave County hiking trail

The body of a missing person was found near a hiking trail north of Lake Havasu City.

On Friday, Oct. 20, deputies with the Mohave County Sheriff's Office responded to a call for help from hikers near Craggy Wash who said they found someone who either needed help or was already dead.

A search and rescue team responded to the area and found that the person had already died.

Because of where the body was found, they had to begin recovery operations the next morning.

"The terrain was steep and rugged. Considering the different options to extract the body with our technical rope rescue team, the DPS Western Air Rescue helicopter from Kingman became available and performed a long-line extraction," the sheriff's office said.

The victim is identified as Melinda Oakeson, 46. Deputies say she was reported as missing before being found deceased.

Area of where the discovery was made:

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