Fears Rising for Former Olympic Skier Missing for Nearly 2-Weeks in Popular Hiking Area

Fears are rising for a former Olympic skier who has been missing almost 2-weeks. Blanca Fernandez Ochoa, 56, was last seen on August 23 in Madrid and her car has just been found in an area popular with hikers.

Madrid-born Ms. Ochoa, who won the bronze medal in slalom at the 1992 Olympics at Albertville, France, is understood to have planned holidays in a country house in the north of Spain around the time she vanished, reports the Daily Mail. 

Spanish National Police said in a public appeal for information last night:

‘Blanca Fernandez Ochoa has disappeared in Aravaca, Madrid. She was last seen on August 23 in a black class A Mercedes, number plate 0213CKD. The car had a T-shirt with the Canadian flag on the driver’s seat.’

Police sources have told the Spanish press they considered the disappearance to be a ‘high-risk’ case, and friends are ‘very worried’.

During her World Cup career, she had four victories, 20 podiums, and 69 top-ten finishes. She retired in March 1992 aged 28.