Piano Guys’ Jon Schmidt says fasting, prayer helped with recovery of daughter Annie’s remains

ST. GEORGE, Utah, Nov. 14, 2016 (Gephardt Daily) — Jon Schmidt believes it was fasting and prayer that allowed searchers to find the body of his daughter, Annie, who disappeared Oct. 16 while hiking in Oregon’s Columbia Gorge.

On Friday, remains were located, hidden by dense vegetation near the bottom of a cliff at Munra Point by a search team using K-9s. On Saturday, the body was confirmed to be that of 21-year-old Annie Schmidt.

The discovery came five days after the Nov. 6 day of fasting and prayer that social media followers had undertaken at Jon Schmidt’s request.

Schmidt thanked supporters — including fans of his band, The Piano Guys, members of The Church Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, to which the Schmidts belong, and other well-wishers around the world — for their efforts on Annie’s behalf.

Today we are remembering a week ago at this time when we concluded a special period of fasting and prayer with so many of you,” Schmidt wrote in a Facebook post that went up Sunday.

We want to thank you all so much again! We absolutely feel that it was a complete miracle that we found Annie. People literally came out of nowhere this week to provide the search effort with some of the best dogs and handlers in the country. We are 100% convinced that without this, Annie would never have been found.

The people who have helped in this effort are angelic, their motivation absolutely selfless. The way it all came together, the timing, the weather everything was truly miraculous. Although our pain is deep, we are feeling so much gratitude this day for all of those who have helped us find our sweet Annie!

The death was ruled accidental, and Jon Schmidt revealed that evidence suggested that his daughter did not suffer.

One of Annie Schmidt’s last posts to social media was a photo of the area’s rocky terrain. She posted it with caption likely to become part of her legacy:

FILL your life with GOOD VIBES.