SALT LAKE CITY — The daughter of "The Piano Guys" member Jon Schmidt was found dead over the weekend, several weeks after she disappeared while hiking in Oregon. On Monday, Annie Schmidt's mother spoke with FOX 13 about Annie's passing.
“It's so awful and so sad but it doesn't mean we can't see the miracles in it at the same time," Michelle Schmidt said.
Several weeks went by as the Schmidt family searched relentlessly for their daughter, Annie.
Since she first went missing in the Oregon Mountains on October 16th, Michelle Schmidt had a feeling her daughter wouldn't be found alive.
“I just felt like she was with me,” Schmidt said. “I felt her very strongly the first day and that's why I felt she had passed at that point and I felt right from the start we were looking for her body.”
Search and rescue crews, family, friends and strangers braved the steep and rugged terrain to find Annie.
“We always had hope we would find her,” Schmidt said.
Day after day, hundreds of people searched, but found no trace of Annie. Finally, on Friday a K-9 picked up a scent, leading them to details on how she died.
“She was at the bottom of a very steep cliff somewhere from 100 to 300 feet,” Schmidt said.
The Schmidts believe Annie was on the way back to her car, almost down the mountain when she fell and died on impact.
“To know she wasn't suffering on the mountain for days and days brought us peace,” Schmidt said.
The family is grateful to have this step toward closure.
“So grateful to be able to have her body come home and put her in a burial plot and have a place for her remains to be,” Michelle said.
Annie’s funeral is set for next Monday.
