Search for Vanishing Woman Hiker Ends
Eagle County, Colorado (United States):
The search for missing hiker Michelle Vanek was suspended Saturday night because searchers had explored areas of Mount of the Holy Cross where they thought she could be, authorities said Monday.
The Eagle County Sheriff's Office and Vail Mountain Rescue Group, the agencies that lead the search, have received numerous questions about the halting of the search, Capt. Bill Kaufman said.
“After hundreds of members of trained search and rescue teams, hundreds of family, friends and concerned Coloradans scoured areas of significant probability that Ms. Vanek would be, but also remote areas of lesser possibility, it was determined that the search for Ms. Vanek would be suspended,” Kaufman said.
Vanek, a 35-year-old mother of four from Lakewood in suburban Denver, was last seen just below the summit of the 14,005-foot Mount Of The Holy Cross, Sept. 24, 2005, when she became separated from her hiking partner, who had continued to the top of the peak.
Professional rescue crews and volunteers looked for Vanek for eight days but found no trace of her.
On Saturday, more than 220 professional rescuers and volunteers from the Vail Valley and across Colorado scoured the mountain and nearby trails without finding anything.
Saturday night, Kaufman said authorities had determined further searches were unlikely to locate Vanek.
“Any further mission would not lead to the possibility of finding Ms. Vanek,” Kaufman said at press conference Saturday night.
Vail Mountain Rescue Group director Tim Cochrane speculated Saturday Vanek fell into a hard-to-reach, heavily forested series of cliff bands and was too injured to help herself or signal rescuers.
Cochrane said the cliffs were too difficult to search without some evidence, such as broken branches or other disturbances, to give rescuers an idea where to look.
“Unless we have some clue, if she did fall there, I don’t know how we’re going to find her,” Cochrane said. “It’s truly a mystery as to where Michelle is.”
October 3, 2005
Matt Zalaznick, Vail Daily News
Eagle County, Colorado (United States):
The search for missing hiker Michelle Vanek was suspended Saturday night because searchers had explored areas of Mount of the Holy Cross where they thought she could be, authorities said Monday.
The Eagle County Sheriff's Office and Vail Mountain Rescue Group, the agencies that lead the search, have received numerous questions about the halting of the search, Capt. Bill Kaufman said.
“After hundreds of members of trained search and rescue teams, hundreds of family, friends and concerned Coloradans scoured areas of significant probability that Ms. Vanek would be, but also remote areas of lesser possibility, it was determined that the search for Ms. Vanek would be suspended,” Kaufman said.
Vanek, a 35-year-old mother of four from Lakewood in suburban Denver, was last seen just below the summit of the 14,005-foot Mount Of The Holy Cross, Sept. 24, 2005, when she became separated from her hiking partner, who had continued to the top of the peak.
Professional rescue crews and volunteers looked for Vanek for eight days but found no trace of her.
On Saturday, more than 220 professional rescuers and volunteers from the Vail Valley and across Colorado scoured the mountain and nearby trails without finding anything.
Saturday night, Kaufman said authorities had determined further searches were unlikely to locate Vanek.
“Any further mission would not lead to the possibility of finding Ms. Vanek,” Kaufman said at press conference Saturday night.
Vail Mountain Rescue Group director Tim Cochrane speculated Saturday Vanek fell into a hard-to-reach, heavily forested series of cliff bands and was too injured to help herself or signal rescuers.
Cochrane said the cliffs were too difficult to search without some evidence, such as broken branches or other disturbances, to give rescuers an idea where to look.
“Unless we have some clue, if she did fall there, I don’t know how we’re going to find her,” Cochrane said. “It’s truly a mystery as to where Michelle is.”
October 3, 2005
Matt Zalaznick, Vail Daily News
