A young woman was found dead hours after she met a man on Instagram for a hike and decided to turn back. Angela Tramonte, 31, decided to cut short a trek through an Arizona mountain after meeting the man, only to be found dead in less than 24 hours amid sweltering temperatures, according to reports.
Tramonte's body was discovered Friday off the Echo Canyon Trail near a home on the northeast side of Camelback Mountain in Phoenix, the Phoenix Fire Department said. The man has now been identified by Tramonte's family and friends as an off-duty cop and they are asking police to help them get justice for her death.
Mystery Shrouds Tragic Death
According to reports, rescue teams reached the 2,706-foot peak in Arizona after Tramonte "turned around halfway" up the trail and did not return to a parking lot, where she was supposed to after completing the trek. Tramonte reportedly had met a man on Instagram just a day earlier who was accompanying her on the trek.
The man, reportedly, was the one who informed police four hours earlier that Tramonte had cut short her trek and turned around midway due to the sweltering heat. However, she didn't reach the parking lot where all of her belongings were discovered still inside a car, Phoenix Fire Department Capt. Ron McDade told the Arizona Republic.
Rescue teams then started a search and after a few hours found her unresponsive. She was later pronounced dead despite attempts to revive her. According to CBS Boston, Tramonte was visiting Phoenix for the first time after she met the man on Instagram.
Who is the Mysterious Man?
Tramonte's family and friends have identified the man as Dario Dizdar, an off-duty Phoenix police officer. His identity was also later confirmed by the fire officials to The Daily Beast on Monday. Tramonte had flown into the city to meet with Dizdar.
Friends said the pair had been speaking online for two months, and that it was the first time they met in person. And they now are questioning the circumstances surrounding her death.
"If somebody's walking up a mountain and you're seeing her in distress and she's not feeling well and she's exhausted – why wouldn't you walk her back down?" Tramonte's friend Stacey Gerardi asked.
"Why would you continue to walk back up? It doesn't make sense," she said, adding, "Not even 24 hours and she's dead. We want justice. We want answers. We need to keep pushing. That was my sister. We had 25 years of friendship."
A spokeswoman for Phoenix police told the Arizona Republic that they aren't yet suspecting foul play in her death but an investigation has been launched. Her cause of death will be determined by a medical examiner.
Investigators said the woman appeared to not have water with her when she was found and was possibly trying to get help as temperatures in Phoenix reached 104 degrees Friday, the Boston Globe reported.
Meanwhile, Tramonte's friends claim that Dizdar has a documented history of lying. Dizdar, who has been with the Phoenix Police Department since 2007, was previously disciplined for lying to Arizona police about his identity during a 2009 criminal investigation, according to internal affairs documents viewed by The Daily Beast.
