Inquest hears of last movements of missing woman, Betty O'Pray

But, despite the efforts of hundreds of volunteers, 77-year-old Betty O'Pray was never seen again.

At an inquest into her disappearance in Katoomba in February, the coroner heard that police rescuers spoke to Ms O'Pray on her mobile phone 24 hours after she disappeared but she was unable to tell them where she was.

And efforts by Optus to locate her through her mobile pointed volunteers in the wrong direction, the court heard.

Counsel assisting the coroner, Robert Ranken, outlined Ms O'Pray's last movements and phone calls as rescuers desperately tried to find her.

Mr Ranken said Ms O'Pray was a regular walker, often doing the 10-kilometre return trip to Katoomba or heading east from Medlow Bath along Grand Canyon Road towards the air strip or out further to Point Pilcher Lookout, a distance of some 17 kilometres return.

She set out some time that afternoon, with witnesses seeing her on the highway near the Mazda outlet and CCTV footage from the United service station catching her heading towards the railway station.

From 4.30pm onwards, her daughter, Kate Pellegrini, repeatedly tried to call her mother. She scoured the streets around her home in Delmonte Avenue while her husband, Michael, walked the track from Medlow to Katoomba hoping to find her.

At 11pm, Ms Pellegrini reported her mother missing to Katoomba Police, who checked the hospital and CityRail CCTV, Katoomba CBD and nearby areas.

By 7 the next morning, Sergeant Dallas Atkinson, a veteran of hundreds of search and rescue operations with Police Rescue, was setting up a land search, with police, RFS and SES volunteers.

At 5.15pm, Ms Pellegrini tried her mother's mobile again and was surprised when it was answered. Her mother said she was lost, she knew people were looking for her as she'd seen the helicopters overhead, but she couldn't say where she was. And her phone battery was nearly dead.

Ms O'Pray had an old Nokia phone which was not equipped with GPS, Mr Ranken told the court. Efforts were made using location-based services to triangulate her position, suggesting her phone was pinging off a mobile tower in Valley Road, Katoomba, near Narrow Neck Road.

"Most likely that information was incorrect," Mr Ranken said.

Sgt Atkinson also spoke to Ms O'Pray, keeping it brief to conserve battery life. He said a helicopter would soon be flying over and when she saw it, she should ring him so they could pinpoint her position.

She never rang.

Twice more that night, Sgt Atkinson received calls from Ms O'Pray but heard only rustling. He presumed they were accidental "pocket" calls.

At 10.43pm Sgt Atkinson called again - the phone rang twice but then stopped. The battery was dead and contact had been lost.

Over the next week, hundreds of volunteers joined the search, scouring areas of South Katoomba, Radiata Plateau, Nellies Glen and the Six Foot Track.

But Sgt Atkinson had grown increasingly concerned about the triangulation - logs of Ms O'Pray's phone contradicted the co-ordinates Optus had given.

By March 13, a week after she disappeared, Sgt Atkinson consulted a doctor with expertise in survivability who said dehydration, exhaustion and Ms O'Pray's hypertension almost certainly meant she was dead. He gave her only a 5 per cent chance of being alive at that stage.

Notwithstanding that, search efforts continued across a number of areas. But no trace was ever found of the Scottish born former dance teacher.

Mr Ranken said Ms O'Pray had been an active woman, although she had suffered a mild stroke in 2012. There had also been two occasions in 2015 when she was found disoriented.

But her doctor, who last saw her in 2015, concluded she was an "elderly but vibrant lady with a good sense of humour". 

The deputy state coroner, Derek Lee, will have to make a finding as to whether Ms O'Pray is dead and, if so, the likely time and place of death. He will also consider how or whether police were adversely affected by the information from Optus.