Michelle Vanek, Mount of the Holy Cross
A 35-year-old mother separated from her hiking partner near the summit of a Colorado fourteener on 24 September 2005; her belongings were found in 2024 and her remains in 2025.
2005 CE · 39.47, -106.48 · status: explained
The account
Michelle Vanek was climbing with a friend; when she tired, they split up and she chose an easier way down, and she was not seen again. One of the largest searches in Colorado history followed, with well over a hundred searchers, dogs and helicopters, but was suspended after eight days. Years later a Vail Mountain Rescue volunteer digitised the 2005 search notes and maps, showing the teams had concentrated where other hikers had got lost before. In September 2024 searchers found her pack, poles and clothing on a rock terrace below the north ridge, and a search in 2025 recovered her remains.
The sceptical view
A clear example of a person lying in an area that was hard to reach and under-searched rather than in one searched thoroughly.