A search for missing Virginia firefighter Nicole Mittendorff was suspended Thursday after a woman’s remains were found in Shenandoah National Park, authorities said.
A search team of National Park Service and Virginia State Police officers discovered the remains in a remote location more than a mile from the Whiteoak Canyon parking area and about 330 yards from the trail in treacherous rocky terrain, the two agencies said.
Mittendorff’s 2009 Mini Cooper was found Saturday night in that parking area, authorities said. She was reported missing the day before.
Authorities have not identified the body. A posting on the family’s Find Nicole Facebook page said, “Our hearts are broken. We thank you for your support and ask that you keep our family in your prayers in the challenging days ahead.”
Relatives and colleagues of Mittendorff had appealed to the public for help in finding her.
“As you can imagine, the pain of not knowing where a loved one is can be unbearable,” Mittendorff’s husband, Steve, said in tears during a news conference Tuesday at a Fairfax County firehouse.
Mittendorff, 31, was last heard from in text messages last Wednesday, family and friends have said on social media.
She was reported missing Friday after failing to show up at work, her father, Robert Clardy, said in a Facebook post.
State, federal, and volunteer search and rescue teams had combed the national park.
There’s “no evidence to indicate that her disappearance is suspicious in nature,” Virginia State Police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said before the remains were found.
At the news conference Tuesday, Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Chief Richard Bowers called for the public’s help in locating Mittendorff — a “motivated and dedicated” firefighter and paramedic for three years who was “respected and well-liked” by her colleagues.
“It has been almost a week and we are saddened that Nicole is not back with us,” he said.