Dead Hiker May Have Sought Love Connection
Did trailmates leave her alone on a mountain?
Updated 6:29 PM PST, Mon, Jun 29, 2009
A mountain biker headed out for a Sunday ride on a trail in a San Jose park Sunday afternoon made a disturbing discovery. There she was, high up a hill, about a mile and a half from the trailhead: a woman about 50 years old lying face-up, dead.
Papers in a car parked at the trailhead carried the name "Linda" and showed driving directions from an address in San Mateo, Calif. and a printout from Table for Six Total Adventures, a matchmaking service which regularly organizes group hikes in the area.
It's not clear if the car belonged to the dead woman, but no other vehicles were parked near the trailhead in Santa Teresa County Park, a 1,627-acre park 10 miles south of downtown San Jose.
On Monday the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office confirmed the body was of a woman named Linda Fradkin, 57, of San Mateo and Table for Six said she was a member of its group.
"We're just very very sad," Table for Six CEO Julie Piva's said. "Linda had been with our club for over four years, and been on 34 hikes with us. She's extremely experienced and was preparing to for a 30 day hike in the Grand Canyon."
It took sheriff's deputies about 45 minutes of off-road driving and hiking to get to where the woman was found. She was fully clothed when deputies found her and there were no apparent signs of trauma, police said.
It was about 106 degrees Sunday and a heat advisory was in effect so the temperature might have been a factor in her death, investigators said.
"Our hike was over around 3:30 and she decided to continued on her own, like a lot of our members do," Piva said. "She was a very athletic woman, very prepared. She would bring a fanny pack full of water and even matches, very prepared athletic woman, we're just so sorry."
There is no indication of how long she had been lying there, Sgt. Rick Sung said.
First Published: Jun 29, 2009 7:10 AM PST
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