The devastating final text message a woman sent to her husband before being discovered dead after going trekking has come to light.
After embarking for a trek in Arizona on Sunday morning, Kathleen Patterson, 60, told her husband of 37 years that she had gotten “off route” hours before she was reported missing.
According to Steve Patterson, his wife texted him saying, “Hey sweetheart, I’ve gotten off course. I’m OK. Plenty of water. All good,” according to KPHO-TV.
At 10:02 a.m., the message was delivered, and Patterson’s failure to return from her hike that evening led to a missing person complaint.
The parking area for the trailhead contained Patterson’s vehicle.
More than 200 volunteers soon began a search of the region on Tuesday.
She was not found until Wednesday, when a volunteer searcher came across the body about 200 yards from the popular trail.
“Kathleen Patterson has been located. Unfortunately, she was found deceased by a volunteer searcher off trail in the Spur Cross conservation area,” the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office said on Sunday.
An investigation into the death has been opened, but no foul play is suspected, according to police.