The body of 62-year-old Marites Buenafe, a missing cruise passenger, has been found after she vanished while on a solo hike in Alaska, authorities have said.

Marites Buenafe, originally from Kentucky, told her family she'd disembarked from the Norwegian Bliss for a hike. She never came back to the ship.

When Buenafe failed to return to the ship that afternoon, a large-scale search and rescue operation was launched using canine teams, helicopters, and drones. An update from Alaska State Troopers reports her body was spotted just before noon Thursday by an Alaska Army National Guard helicopter crew approximately 1,700ft (518m) below the ridge.