Body of Missing Teenager Found Dead 9 Months After Disappearing in Romania’s Bucegi Mountains

Two Romanian shepherds discovered the body of an 18-year-old British hiker, who disappeared while hiking alone in the Bucegi Mountains last November. The nine-month search for University of Bristol student George Smyth has ended after two Romanian shepherds discovered his body in the Bucegi Mountains.

Smyth, an 18-year-old geology student at the University of Bristol, disappeared in November 2025 while hiking alone in the mountains of central Romania. His body was found after months of searches that were repeatedly hampered by severe winter weather and the difficult terrain.

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Romanian authorities have now identified the remains as Smyth, according to a local news, which named the two shepherds as Sorin and Sorinel. The shepherds’ discovery ends a long, extensive search that had continued for months after Smyth disappeared.

Smyth was believed to have left Poiana Brașov, a mountain resort in central Romania, and headed toward the village of Bran before continuing into the Bucegi Mountains on November 23, 2025. While in the Țigănești area, Smyth contacted Romanian emergency services and reported that he was disoriented and physically exhausted and required help.

Rescuers launched a search but were confronted by extremely difficult conditions, including strong winds, heavy snowfall and dense fog. Local authorities described the area where Smyth was believed to be as “very isolated and hard-to-access.”

His backpack was eventually recovered near the location of his emergency call, but Smyth himself could not be found.

Search teams returned to the mountains multiple times over the following months, but difficult weather and rugged terrain repeatedly limited their ability to access some areas.

On August 12, rescuers resumed searching in previously identified locations, including areas beneath rock walls, ravines and other difficult-to-reach sections of the mountains. The renewed search ultimately came just days before the shepherds discovered Smyth’s remains.

His family had already come to terms with the possibility that he had died. In a statement reported by the BBC, they said they had accepted that they would “no longer see him, speak to him or hold him in our arms.” But they continued to hope that his body would eventually be found so they could bring him home. “When the mountains that took him are ready to let go, George will be found, and we will bring him home to say goodbye,” the family previously said.

That hope has now become reality and his family can finally bring George home. The family thanked the Romanian mountain rescue teams and everyone involved in the search for their efforts over the past nine months.

While the circumstances surrounding Smyth’s death have not been detailed publicly, the location, weather and conditions described by rescuers illustrate the hazards he faced after becoming disoriented in the Bucegi Mountains.