Body Found in Search for Hiker Who Continued on the Trail Alone and Then Called Family in Heat Distress

Diem Le Nguyen went missing on Sunday, June 23, during a hike with 100 people along the Nighthawk Trail

A body was found on Monday, June 24, amid the ongoing search for Diem Le Nguyen on a hiking trail in San Diego.

According to the San Diego Police Department via ABC News, Nguyen vanished on Sunday, June 23 after she went off on her own from her 100-person hiking group Nighthawk Trail in Black Mountain Open Space Park, 20 miles north of San Diego.

The hike was a charity event, dedicated to raising money to build new schools in Southeast Asia, CBS 8 reported.

The 50-year-old woman had separated from her group around 8 a.m. About an hour-and-a-half later, Nguyen informed her group that she had finished the trail on her own, according to ABC affiliate News 10 San Diego.

Nguyen's hiking group had made it halfway up the 4,048-foot Black Mountain before turning back around due to the high temperatures, SDPD spokesperson Lt. Daniel Meyer had said during a press conference on Monday, ABC News reports.

However, Nguyen continued hiking.

Just after 10 a.m., Nguyen made a phone call to family members "stating that she was very hot and needed water," according to Meyer. That was the last time anyone had heard from her.

Related: 3 Teens Among Group of Hikers Rescued from N.H. Mountain Trail, Officials Say: 'Dangerous Decision'

San Diego Sheriff's Search and Rescue crews, canines, park rangers, local agency helicopters and SDPD drone units started searching that day at 11:30 a.m., looking late into Sunday night and early Monday morning for Nguyen.

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Early Monday morning around 9:15 a.m., a search helicopter found a body in the area where Nguyen had gone missing. A medical examiner has yet to confirm if the body found was Nguyen.

Police declined to comment further when reached by PEOPLE, referring to local news coverage.

"At this point, it's obviously a very painful moment for the family and friends," Meyer said at the news conference, as per NBC News San Diego.

"It's really important for the community to come together and support this family as they go through this traumatic time."

San Diego, along with other parts of the U.S., has been experiencing extreme heat in the past few days. Temperatures could reach the triple-digits later this week in the Southern California city, according to 10 News.

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