Traveling nurse who went missing on California hike died of exposure

ARNOLD, Calif. - A traveling nurse practitioner who prompted a weeks-long search after disappearing on a Northern California hiking trail last month died of exposure, according to the coroner's office in Calaveras County. 

The body of Ann Herford, a 66-year-old Michigan resident, was found dead on Nov. 30 on a steep hillside near the Arnold Rim Trail in the Stanislaus National Forest in Arnold, Calif., after going missing in the area two weeks earlier, the Calaveras County Sheriff’s Office said. 

The coroner determined she had died of exposure, as she had been out in the woods for an extended amount of time. 

The weather that day had dipped as low as 35 degrees, and it rained in the days after she disappeared. 

Her family said that she was not an experienced hiker. 

Up to 80 people had joined in the search to find her. 

An online obituary said that Herford was a traveling nurse who worked in California and Michigan. She traveled to Poland on a mission trip to assist with medical care for Ukrainian refugees.   

A memorial service for her will be held on Saturday.