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 starting back down the trail alone. She was wearing a red shirt, black pants, and hiking boots.
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.
In an update, the sheriff's office said a women-led search team discovered clothing articles, a small backpack and hiking poles. The items have been weathered by time, but officials believe they were with Vanek the day she vanished.
The sheriff's office said the items are undergoing forensic testing to confirm their connection to Vanek but the "emotional weight of this discovery is already deeply felt."
“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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