Nepal

Sister determined to find missing trekker

Sister determined to find missing trekker

By Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu, May 14:

With no news of Kristina Kovacevic, a German trekker missing in the Khumbu region for two months, her sister Karoline Stallcup is determined to leave no stone unturned to find her. She plans to trek in the Everest region this week to trace her sister and is optimistic the German embassy will aid her bid.

“I am not going to leave the country until I find her,” said Stallcup who reached the country two days ago. Kristina could be either stuck or injured on the trekking trails. “Anything is possible,” said Karoline. She is flying to Lukla on May 16 with her friend Manfred Weissinger to look for her sister.

She has an appointment at the German Embassy tomorrow and she is “hopeful” that she can convince them to send a rescue team to look for her sister. “I have been corresponding with the embassy through emails for the past two weeks. They have asked me for more information on my sister,” she said at a press meet today.

“The immigration officials were not of much help. One handed me a couple of contacts that he said could be useful in my search,” she said.

The last time she heard from 41-year-old Kristina was on March 13.

“She had emailed her from Namche Bazaar about her plans to continue her trek alone from a relatively uncommon route the next day. I have no idea where she went,” Karoline said. She claimed that her sister was an experienced trekker and that this was her fourth visit to Nepal.

Kristina was to meet her friends in Bali and Bangkok and return home by May 2. She was the kind of person who would just show up without even bothering to mail; so it took one-and-half months to get her family worked up. “It has been only two weeks since we got alarmed,” said Karoline.