Former Wellesley public school student dies while hiking in White Mountains

Emily Sotelo, a former Wellesley Public Schools student who was attending Vanderbilt University, has been found deceased on the northwest side of Mount Lafayette in Franconia, NH. Following an intensive search and rescue in frigid and windy conditions, the hiker’s body was discovered on Wednesday morning.

• Emily Sotelo’s formal obituary
• Fundraiser “Emily’s Hike (to Save a Life)”

The search began Sunday night after Sotelo was reported missing by a family member to New Hampshire Fish and Game, which issued a statement about Sotelo’s death. Many groups were involved in the search, including the National Guard and Civil Air Patrol.

Sotelo, who would have been 20 today, Nov. 23, was majoring in biochemistry and chemical biology at Vanderbilt. She was aiming to complete all of the 4,000-foot peaks in New Hampshire, and had set off early Sunday morning for a solo hike of Mount Lafayette, Haystack and Flume. Sotelo was an inexperienced cold weather hiker, and appears to have died from exposure to the elements, according to NH Fish and Game.

Sotelo had moved from Wellesley to Westford in recent years. While in the Wellesley Public Schools system, Sotelo had been a musician, a cross country runner, and a talented writer acknowledged by a Scholastic Art & Writing Award.

Our condolences to Sotelo’s family and friends.