Mary Sorensen had spent years dreaming about standing at Mount Kailash.
For the 60-year-old Georgia mother and grandmother, the journey was about much more than seeing a famous mountain. It was a spiritual pilgrimage — a chance to pray, meditate, reflect, and experience a place she had long hoped to visit.
She finally made it.
After reaching Mount Kailash and completing the journey she had dreamed about for years, Sorensen began making her way home.
She was supposed to return to Atlanta, spend a night with her family, and then travel to Maine to see her husband and their granddaughters.
Instead, she disappeared amid catastrophic flooding along the Nepal-Tibet border.
As her family waits for answers, one message she sent shortly before the disaster has become a source of extraordinary comfort.
“I’m so grateful that you guys are my family.”
For her loved ones, those words now carry a meaning they could never have anticipated.
Mary Sorensen Had Finally Reached Mount Kailash
According to her son Riley Wildeman, Sorensen had traveled to the Nepal-Tibet region as part of a spiritual journey connected to her yoga and meditation practice.
Mount Kailash had been on her personal bucket list for years.
For Sorensen, the destination represented something deeply meaningful.
Her family described her as adventurous, spiritual, optimistic, and someone who had a remarkable ability to find something positive in almost every experience.
“She walks to the beat of kind of her own drum,” Riley told ABC News, describing his mother’s personality. He said she was someone who could find good in people and enjoy every moment.
Eventually, she achieved the goal she had been working toward.
She reached Mount Kailash and completed her pilgrimage.
Then she began the journey home.
She Was Looking Forward to the Long Trip Home
After completing the pilgrimage, Sorensen was expected to travel through the Nepal-Tibet border region before continuing toward Kathmandu and eventually flying back to Atlanta.
According to her son, she wasn’t simply looking forward to getting home.
She was looking forward to the journey itself.
The long trip would give her time to think about everything she had experienced and figure out how to explain it to her family.
She wanted to tell them what the pilgrimage had meant to her.
She wanted to share the memories.
And then came the message her family will never forget.
“I’m So Grateful That You Guys Are My Family”
Sorensen’s final known communication with her family came on the morning of August 26, according to ABC News.
She was traveling down from the mountain and preparing for the next stage of her journey.
During the conversation, she told her family about her plans and how much she was looking forward to reflecting on the experience during the trip home.
Then she ended the text with a sentence that would become profoundly important to everyone waiting for her.
“I’m so grateful that you guys are my family.”
Her son Riley later explained that the message has given the family a sense of peace during an incredibly uncertain time.
“If that is the last text that she sends us — how incredible is that of a goodbye, if that is what it is?” he said.
But the family is not treating the message as a final goodbye.
They are still holding onto hope that Mary will be found.
Then the Floods Hit
The following day, catastrophic flooding struck the Nepal-Tibet border region.
The disaster affected areas in northern Nepal, including the Rasuwa district near the Tibet border.
The flooding and associated landslide caused widespread damage to roads, bridges, buildings, and communications infrastructure.
Rescue teams faced enormous challenges reaching isolated areas.
The scale of the disaster quickly became clear as reports emerged of hundreds of people missing, including foreign visitors.
The United Nations reported that major sections of infrastructure had been damaged and that large search-and-rescue operations were underway.
For families waiting for loved ones who had been traveling through the region, the lack of communication made an already frightening situation even more difficult.
Mary Was Supposed to Be Coming Home
One of the hardest parts for Sorensen’s family is knowing how close she was to the end of her journey.
She had completed the experience she had dreamed about.
She had begun traveling home.
And her family was expecting to see her soon.
According to her husband Brian, records indicated that Mary had reached an immigration facility near the Nepal-Tibet border.
He believes the flooding reached the area shortly afterward.
That left the family facing an agonizing question: Where was Mary?
Her husband told People that he wanted nothing more than to receive a phone call from Mary explaining that communication had simply been disrupted.
That possibility remains part of what the family is holding onto.
Her Family Refuses to Give Up Hope
Riley has repeatedly emphasized that his family remains hopeful.
“I have so much hope that she’s there somewhere,” he said.
The family has contacted the U.S. State Department and authorities in Nepal and China while trying to gather information about Mary’s whereabouts.
The situation is complicated by the scale of the disaster and the difficulties faced by search teams working in damaged and isolated areas.
At the time of ABC News’ August 31 report, at least 85 Americans were among those reported missing, according to the U.S. State Department.
Those figures have changed as authorities continue updating their lists and rescue efforts continue.
For individual families, however, every number represents a person they love.
Mary Was More Than a Missing Traveler
To understand why this story has resonated with so many people, it helps to look beyond the disaster itself.
Mary wasn’t simply a traveler caught in an unfolding emergency.
She was a wife.
A mother.
A grandmother.
A friend.
And, according to her family, someone who had built her life around curiosity, spirituality, and finding meaning in ordinary experiences.
She and Brian had reportedly been married for 30 years.
Together, they raised their family and eventually welcomed four granddaughters.
Her journey to Mount Kailash was therefore not an isolated adventure.
It was another expression of the person her family already knew.
Her Husband Remembers Her Spirit
Brian has described Mary in deeply spiritual terms.
He said she believed that a person’s physical experience was only part of a much larger spiritual existence.
He also described finding reminders of her presence in nature — in hummingbirds, the breeze, sunlight, flowers, and in his own heart.
For someone who shared Mary’s worldview, those ideas may provide a form of comfort during an experience that offers very few easy answers.
But her family is also staying focused on the present.
They are still hoping for news.
They are still asking questions.
And they are still waiting.
The Message Has Become a Family Treasure
There is something especially powerful about the timing of Mary’s final known message.
She wasn’t saying goodbye.
She was talking about coming home.
She was thinking about her family.
She was reflecting on a journey that had meant so much to her.
And before the conversation ended, she expressed gratitude for the people she loved.
That is why her words have become so meaningful.
Even without knowing what would happen next, Mary chose to end her conversation by telling her family how grateful she was for them.
Her loved ones now have those words to hold onto while they wait.
The Meaning of “Don’t Ever Give Up Hope”
Riley has also spoken about something his mother tried to teach her family throughout her life: never giving up hope.
That philosophy has become especially significant now.
Search operations can be unpredictable following a large natural disaster. Roads may be damaged, communications can be disrupted, and people may become separated from their travel groups.
For families, the uncertainty can be extremely difficult.
But Mary’s loved ones are choosing to focus on the possibility that she may still be found.
They aren’t ready to close the door.
They are waiting for information.
And they are doing what they believe Mary would have wanted them to do.
A Journey That Reflected Who She Was
Perhaps the most striking part of Mary’s story is how closely her final journey reflected the person her family says she was.
She spent years dreaming about Mount Kailash.
She didn’t abandon that dream.
At 60, she traveled across the world to experience it.
She prayed.
She meditated.
She explored.
She completed the pilgrimage.
And even during the journey home, she was already thinking about how she would share the experience with her family.
Her son described her as someone who enjoyed life and searched for good in people and experiences.
That is the image her family wants people to remember.
Not simply the circumstances surrounding her disappearance, but the woman who spent her life seeking meaning and adventure.
Why Her Story Has Touched So Many People
Stories like Mary’s remind us how quickly ordinary plans can become extraordinary moments.
A person leaves home expecting to return.
A family expects a phone call.
A grandmother makes plans to see her grandchildren.
Then circumstances beyond anyone’s control change everything.
For Mary’s family, the final message offers something precious: certainty about how she felt about them.
Whatever happens next, they know that her last known words to them included gratitude and love for her family.
That knowledge cannot answer every question.
But it can provide comfort.
The Search Continues
As rescue teams continue working through the aftermath of the Nepal-Tibet floods, Mary’s family remains hopeful that new information will emerge.
The broader disaster has involved an enormous search effort, with thousands of people reported missing at different stages as authorities continue updating their records.
The United Nations has described the response as a major government-led emergency operation involving rescue teams, humanitarian agencies, supplies, and international support.
For families like Mary’s, however, the wider statistics are secondary.
They are waiting for one name.
One phone call.
One piece of news.
One sign that the person they love has been found.
Remembering Mary Through Her Own Words
There is a natural temptation to focus on the most dramatic part of Mary’s story.
But perhaps the most meaningful detail is actually the simplest.
She told her family she was grateful.
She had just completed a journey that had been important to her for years.
She was thinking about the people waiting for her at home.
And she wanted to share what she had experienced with them.
Her family now carries those words forward.
They are not ready to call them a goodbye.
Instead, they are treating them as a reminder of Mary’s love for her family — and as a reason to keep hoping.
For now, that hope remains.
And so does the waiting.
A Story About Love, Gratitude, and Hope
Mary Sorensen’s story is still unfolding.
Her family continues to search for answers, while rescue and recovery efforts continue across the region affected by the floods.
No one can know what the coming days will bring.
But one thing is already clear.
Mary’s final known message to her family was filled with gratitude.
After years of dreaming about Mount Kailash, she had finally reached the place she wanted to see.
And on the journey home, her thoughts turned toward the people she loved most.
“I’m so grateful that you guys are my family.”
For Riley, Brian, and the rest of Mary’s loved ones, those words have become something they can hold close.
They are choosing hope.
They are continuing to search.
And they are refusing to give up.
Sources
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ABC News — reporting on Mary Sorensen and her family’s search for answers
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People — reporting on Sorensen’s final known message and her family’s response
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United Nations / UN Sustainable Development Group — updates on the Nepal flood response and humanitarian situation
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ABC News — updates on the wider Nepal-Tibet flooding and missing-person situation
