A 26-year-old magician died in remote bushland after suffering a serious fall while hiking, his devastated mother has revealed.
Daniel Hidden was last seen leaving his home in Broadbeach on the Gold Coast on the morning of June 14.
His family first thought the keen hiker and camper had headed out alone to one of his regular wilderness spots, where he was known to explore away from marked tracks.
Two days after he vanished, police found Mr Hidden’s silver Hyundai Santa Fe, his Galaxy caravan and some abandoned belongings on the roadside near a well-known hiking area he often visited in the Gold Coast Hinterland.
The discovery triggered a major eight-day search operation, with dozens of Australian Defence Force personnel joining efforts to find him.
Mr Hidden’s body was located near Cougal Cascades in Mount Cougal National Park on June 24.
His mother, Faronak Jamshidi, said authorities have told her that her son accidentally fell while making his way through difficult terrain and broke his hip.
Unable to move and without his mobile phone, which he typically left behind when going hiking, Mr Hidden is believed to have died from hypothermia as overnight temperatures dropped to as low as 5C.
Daniel Hidden was found dead in remote bushland in Gold Coast hinterland last week
The magician died from hypothermia after he fell and broke his hip while hiking near the Cougal Cascades in Mount Cougal National Park
‘Because that area was hidden, nobody knew that area. He couldn’t move and show himself to anybody,’ Ms Jamshidi told 7news.com.au.
She and the family were hopeful he would be found alive and did not leave Mr Hidden’s caravan during the large-scale search.
They had previously revealed that he didn’t like sticking to marked tracks and ‘desires the hardship in unexplored places’.
‘We thought maybe if he came back, he needs help. He’s tired, he’s hungry. It was so cold,’ Ms Jamshidi recalled.
‘During the night I just was telling myself, “My son is outside and it’s very cold.”‘
She previously told reporters: ‘We need to find him, he needs help.
‘But he’s alive and people can come and help to find him before something happens.’
She takes comfort in the fact that her son spent his final moments near the off-track waterfall, which held special significance for him.
Mr Hidden’s family spent a week camped beside his abandoned silver Hyundai Santa Fe and Galaxy caravan after they were found near one of his favourite hiking spots
His mother Faronak Jamshidi has been told by authorities that her son accidentally fell and broke his hip while climbing through rugged bushland
The secluded area reminded him of Mount Tochal in Iran’s Alborz mountain range, where Mr Hidden, who was born Daniel Jamshidi, spent his childhood.
Ms Jamshidi said she is still haunted by one unanswered question: how long her injured son lay alone before he died.
‘If he died early, at least I knew he didn’t suffer a lot,’ she said.
Ms Jamshidi thanked everyone involved in the search, which covered dozens of walking tracks stretching to the NSW border.
A magician, mind reader and cruise ship entertainer with Virgin Voyages, Mr Hidden had amassed almost 7,000 followers on Instagram. His final post was shared on June 10, four days before he disappeared.
