- Lovisa ‘Kiki’ Sjoberg is missing from the Snowy Mountains
- Photographer and brumby activist last spoke on October 8
- Brumby movement praying 48 year old is safe and sound
The search for an award-winning photographer and mad conservationist has been stepped up after she disappeared in the NSW Snowy Mountains ten days ago.
Lovisa ‘Kiki’ Sjoberg’s last contact with anyone else was on October 8, but a week later she was seen driving her gray Mitsubishi Outlander rental car.
The alarm for the 48-year-old, from nearby Jinabyne and who has photographed for Harper’s Bizarre magazine, was activated on Monday when car rental staff realized her rental car was six days late.
It was found unlocked and abandoned near Kiandra courthouse, 90km north-west of the Snowy Mountains capital Cooma.
It lay there untouched for six days after she was last seen alive behind the wheel of the car in Kosciuszko National Park around 7am on October 15.
Although familiar with the local mountain landscape, concerned friends say Ms Sjoberg’s disappearance is out of character and “they pray she is found safe and sound.”
Police and officers from the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) have been searching for hiking trails in the six-square-mile national park, known for its waterfalls and limestone gorges.
Lovisa ‘Kiki’ Sjoberg, 48, has not returned her rental car and has not been seen since October 15 as she drove her vehicle through the Snowy Mountains, where a major search for her is being stepped up
Michelle and Ian Brown posted photos of the search in Kosciuszko National Park (above) for their friend and wild horse conservation colleague and personally searched the area alongside police and NPWS officers
Her rental car was discovered unlocked near the remains of the old settlement in Kiandra, an abandoned gold mining town.
NSW Police have deployed specialist mountain officers, a helicopter, trail bikes and rescue teams and volunteer firefighters experienced in night and rugged terrain searches.
Fellow brumby photographers and wild horse campaigners Michelle Maree Brown and Ian Brown have posted warnings on social media and said that Ms. Sjoberg “knows the country and walks in KNP all the time.”
The couple coordinated police search and rescue efforts on foot and on quad bikes, personally searching remote and difficult territory.
Mr Brown posted on Facebook that he had searched ‘the land that time forgot’, adding that it was steep and treacherous there and anyone could easily get into trouble there.
‘From there I walked to ‘the corner’ and scoured that area. I ended up covering 26.5km (just a very small area that I know of),” he added.
He said two other friends “drove other areas where KiKi frequented, also for hours. It’s a big place. Fingers crossed that she’s doing well.”
The missing woman has been a local hero in the ‘save the brumbies’ movement since she found and photographed the bodies of a gang of 11 wild horses.
Kiki Sjoberg’s unlocked rental car was found in the heritage village of Kiandra, but there was no sign of the 48-year-old and volunteers are now helping to search in the often difficult and steep terrain
Ms Sjoberg found and photographed the bodies of a gang of eleven wild horses that had been mysteriously shot dead in September 2022
The gang was mysteriously shot dead in September 2022 and consisted of a family led by a brown stallion, the Browns named Arrow Boy, and including a pregnant mare.
A helicopter, trail bikes and ATVs are being used to locate Ms. Sjoberg.
Members of the brumby group praised the Browns for cooperating in the search for Ms Sjoberg with NPWS, who was sometimes suspected of shooting dead brumbies to cull numbers of non-native animals.
Ms. Sjoberg has a white appearance, an olive complexion, black hair and brown eyes.
Her recognized work includes photographs she took of Snow Mountain landscapes covered in red smoke during the 2019-2020 wildfire season.
Ms Sjoberg’s personal Instagram account is set to private, along with her photographic Instagram account Brunby Strong.
NSW Police have urged anyone with information to contact Monaro Police or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.