PHOENIX — Family and friends are mourning the death of a woman who died hiking on Camelback Mountain on Friday.
Family and friends said 31-year-old Angela Tramonte flew from Boston to Phoenix last Thursday to meet a Phoenix Police officer she’d been chatting with online.
She turned around but never made it to the car
Phoenix Police said Tramonte was hiking with the off-duty officer along the Echo Canyon trail around 10 a.m.
A spokesperson said the pair did not take any water with them on the hike.
Phoenix Police said their off-duty officer told investigators the pair split up when Tramonte started feeling unwell.
The department said Angela asked their officer to continue up the mountain to take photos for her social media while she turned around.
The off-duty officer said that she was supposed to meet him back at the car, but at 1 p.m. he called 911 because he couldn’t find her.
It would take crews almost four hours to find her body near a home off the trail.
RELATED: Woman found dead after Camelback Mountain hike. Her hiking partner was a city of Phoenix employee.
Officer is taking ‘personal time off’
12 News is not naming the officer because he is not facing any criminal charges, and investigators do not consider Tramonte’s death suspicious.
Phoenix Police told 12 News that the officer is taking "personal time off" to deal with the tragedy.
“The fact that he didn’t protect his guest who flew all the way to a different state to see him, it’s just so alarming and surprising to us,” Melissa Buttaro, one of Tramonte’s friends said.
Friends and family now mourning
Friends of Tramonte described her as funny, strong, and always there for people in her life.
They said Tramonte was in good physical shape and known to text them early in the morning after her workouts.
“Angela was the most beautiful kind-hearted loving person she always looked out for the safety of herself and for others,” Stacey Gerardi, another one of Tramonte’s friends said.
Friends told 12 News that Tramonte had started talking with the man through Instagram a couple of months ago.
They said Tramonte told them of her plans to fly out to Phoenix from Boston to meet him.
“None of us thought it was a good idea,” Buttaro said.
“She wasn’t the type of person to put herself in the situation without taking the necessary precautions,” her friend Evelyn Doherty-Terfry said.
A GoFundMe has been started to raise funds for Tramonte’s funeral.
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