EAGLE COUNTY, Colo. — Vail Mountain Rescue Group recently discovered personal items on Mount of the Holy Cross that belonged to a hiker who disappeared 19 years ago, the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office announced Saturday.
Denver resident Michelle Vanek, 35, embarked on a hike up Mount of the Holy Cross on Sept. 24, 2005, and vanished without a trace. She was near the summit when she told her friend she was tired and headed back down the trail alone. She was never seen again.
According to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) cold case files, Vanek was a triathlete but an inexperienced high-altitude hiker. She ran out of drinking water before she started back down the trail alone. She was wearing a red shirt, black pants, and hiking boots.
The sheriff’s office said the recent discovery of personal items belonging to Vanek “marks a milestone in the long search for Michelle,” and brings a "glimmer of closure" to her family.
Vanek's disappearance sparked a large-scale search effort that lasted eight days and continued for the past 19 years with numerous formal and informal searches.
“Finding these personal items is an emotional moment for all of us. For 19 years, Michelle’s family, friends, and this community have held on to hope. Sheriff James Van Beek has a search grid map from that very search hanging on his office wall, placed there by his predecessor as a constant reminder of a case unresolved and a family left incomplete. It has remained there as a symbol of our unwavering commitment to never stop searching for Michelle,” the sheriff’s office said in a news release.
The sheriff’s office said they are not disclosing the exact location of where the items were found “due to the sensitive nature of the discovery and out of respect for ongoing search efforts.”
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