Body found on Mt. Rainier ID'ed as Atlanta woman - Atlanta News, Weather, Traffic, and Sports | FOX 5

Officials have confirmed that one of the bodies found on Mt. Rainier is that of an Atlanta woman.

Michelle Trojanowski, 30, began her trek to the mountain in mid-January with a friend.

"She was an adventurer. She was fit. She was athletic. She liked to go get it.  And so when she told friends and those of us around here that she was going to try to summit Mt. Rainier, that wasn't a surprise even though she's a girl from the South," said Kris McDaniel, pastor of Trinity Anglican Mission.

Trojanowski and three other hikers got stuck on the mountain when a snowstorm blew in.

As word reached her friends back home in Atlanta, they held out hope that Michelle and the others were safe.

"Maybe they were holed up somewhere, waiting out the storm," said McDaniel.

But as the days went on, that hope faded.

"We as a community had to transition our thinking to making room for that fact that maybe she won't come down that mountain, but was with the Lord,' said McDaniel.

McDaniel was a close friend of Michelle's. He says she was very involved with the church. She was part of the lay council, she worked on Habitat homes and was a team leader for the annual Health Day when the church teams up with the Atlanta Union Mission to help more than 1,500 homeless men, women and children.

"Michelle was about as involved as any one individual could be within a community of faith," said McDaniel.

McDaniel says it's been a difficult nine months of uncertainty for Michelle's family. Searchers recovered her body just days ago.

The pastor says the confirmation of her death brought renewed pain, and at the same time, a sense of comfort because at least now they know.

"It allows a season to end and some closure to come both to her family and to her friends in her community here in Atlanta," said McDaniel.

The church is dedicating its annual Health Day, when they offer medical aid and food to Atlanta's homeless, to Michelle. The event is being held this Sunday.