Kris Kremers and Lisanne Froon, Boquete
Two Dutch students went missing on the Pianista trail near Boquete, Panama, on 1 April 2014; their remains and a backpack with a phone and camera were found months later, and many night-time photos from the camera are still unexplained.
2014 CE · 8.84, -82.43 · status: unexplained
The account
The phones show repeated emergency calls from the first days. Panamanian authorities concluded the deaths were accidental; the families' and others' doubts keep the case widely discussed.
The sceptical view
Investigators believe the two got lost and fell or drowned in a river; the night flash photos may have been attempts to signal or see.
The researched reading
Two hikers who got lost and called for help from the first day. Accident is likeliest, foul play is not excluded, and nothing points to the paranormal.
| Explanation | Weight | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A known natural phenomenon | 40% | The phones show emergency calls from the first afternoon, meaning they were lost or injured early beyond the Pianista summit in steep cloud forest cut by rain-swollen rivers; remains found downstream fit falls or drowning. |
| Undetermined | 27% | The share the reading had given to fabrication on doubt rather than evidence: the record does not settle it either way. |
| A hoax or fabrication | 15% | Foul play, with someone handling the phones, camera or remains, is argued by some investigators because of the bleached bones and the odd night photos; no forensic proof of it exists, but the bungled early investigation leaves it open. |
| Perception, memory or mind | 7% | Lost hikers often leave the trail and descend streams in panic, which is what search experts expect; the night flash photos fit trying to see or signal. |
| A cultural story | 6% | Online retellings turned the night photos into a horror story far beyond what they show. |
| Something in the surroundings | 4% | Heavy rain, river levels and dense vegetation would scatter and bleach remains. |
| Genuinely anomalous | 1% | Nothing in the evidence suggests anything beyond an accident or a crime. |
Official position: Panamanian authorities concluded the deaths were accidental; the families and some forensic experts doubt this.