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California Hiker Missing in Costa Rica After Flash Floods

Hazardous, persistent rain has forced search teams to pause and left family-led appeals and fundraising as the main ongoing response.

Overview

  • Ashley Phillips, a 30-year-old from Santa Clarita, vanished while hiking and was last seen on June 2 during severe flash flooding and mudslides.
  • Initial volunteer and local searches took place in the days after her disappearance but those operations were temporarily suspended because conditions became too dangerous.
  • Costa Rica’s National Emergency Commission issued a nationwide green alert warning of heavy rain, saturated soils and an elevated landslide risk as a nearby low-pressure system and the Intertropical Convergence Zone keep moisture over the country.
  • Reporting so far does not confirm active coordination or an ongoing search led by Costa Rican authorities or by the U.S. State Department, and officials contacted for comment have not publicly detailed involvement.
  • Phillips’s family has launched a GoFundMe to support volunteer search teams and memorial plans, the page has raised roughly $14,000–$16,000, and searches are expected to resume once weather and terrain become safe.