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A tourist who went missing after she failed to return to her cruise ship last week has been found dead.
Marites Buenafe, 62, of Kentucky, was visiting Alaska’s capital city when she did not return from a hike.
The Alaska Department of Public Safety said her body was found by an Alaska Army National Guard helicopter crew late Thursday below the ridge line of Gold Ridge.
Buenafe is listed as a doctor at UK HealthCare, a system of hospitals and clinics of the University of Kentucky.
AMERICAN CRUISE SHIP PASSENGER DISAPPEARS AFTER HIKING AT SUMMER VACATION DESTINATION
State troopers and Juneau Mountain Rescue were able to recover Buenafe’s body with help from Temsco Helicopters and the National Guard.
Her family has been notified of her death and her body will be sent to the state’s medical examiner’s office for an autopsy, the Associated Press reported.
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On July 1, the Juneau Police Department heard from Buenafe’s relatives that she had left for a hike that morning and had plans to take a popular tourist tram partially up a mountain overlooking downtown Juneau before walking to Gastineau Peak and Gold Ridge, according to the state Department of Public Safety.
She had gotten off the Norwegian Bliss and did not return to the vessel by its departure time.
Norwegian Cruise Line did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Julia Bonavita and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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