The search continues on Lombok for missing Russian woman Alexandra Mordovina. The island authorities have launched a large-scale operation involving rescuers with drones and thermal cameras, along with police and volunteers.
Three Russian activists—were the first to join the search. They traveled from Bali to Mount Rinjani to try and find the missing woman. For several days, they independently scouted the trail leading to the summit of the volcano.
"We found out that the missing woman's husband refused to look for her. We realized that no one was going to do anything. Before this, we didn't know Alexandra or her family. We gathered in half a day. We found a drone through friends, bought an additional station for it, batteries, and set off."
In fact, Alexandra’s husband remained in Bali, where she had been living since 2022. It’s unclear what kind of relationship the couple had, but the husband has not participated in the search efforts. When contacted by the missing woman’s relatives, he replied in English: "I have no ideas."
Meanwhile, the last voice messages Alexandra sent before disappearing have surfaced online. In them, she tells her loved ones how difficult the ascent is for her.
According to Alexandra, she was moving very slowly due to the heavy backpack with a tent she was carrying. By the time of her last voice message, she had been hiking for six hours.
"I'm climbing the volcano. It's nighttime here. I'm going alone. Two steps forward, one rest, and it's already dark around me," Mordovina says.
She managed to take one photo along the way and send it to her nephew. On August 29, her relatives called to wish her a happy birthday, but Alexandra complained about bad reception and promised to call back in a few days. No one was able to reach her after that.
Her family raised the alarm on September 8. There is no official information about her from either the police or the National Search Agency, as she had entered the volcano illegally without a guide. Her motorbike was found parked near the entrance to the Rinjani National Park.
"We checked the entire route; there are indeed some very dangerous sections where the path is only 15 centimeters wide, with a 300-meter drop. It's hard to see everything from a drone because of the vegetation. And you can’t just go down there—you need climbing gear and ropes. But it seems that the search teams aren't considering that option yet," says Ilia, one of the activists organizing the search.
"There’s still a chance she’s alive. If she didn’t fall and just got lost, she could survive in the jungle. The only wild animals there are wild boars and monkeys. The weather has been good all these days; only now has it started to rain. Water isn’t an issue; you can collect dew. And humans can survive a long time without food."
Activists have also enlisted local hunters familiar with the area. In addition to paying them a daily fee, the group has offered a reward of 15 million rupiahs to anyone who finds the missing woman.
"Local shamans have now contacted us, saying: 'We’ll show you where to look. How much will you pay us?' We’re currently discussing this in the group. Maybe we’ll go for it. Who knows?"
Interestingly, friends of the missing woman have told Russian media about a "terrible curse" that hangs over Alexandra Mordovina's family. At 44 years old, she had already lost her mother and older sister.
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