'She Wanted to Be Found by a Team of Women'

Michelle Vanek had been the subject of the longest search for a missing hiker in Colorado history—and a pastor's dream factored into how her remains were finally discovered, writes Heather Hansman at 5280. The 35-year-old mother of four was athletic but a novice hiker when she set out in 2005 to scale Mount of the Holy Cross, with an elevation above 14,000 feet. A friend who was an experienced hiker went with her, but Vanek had to call it quits before the summit. The friend directed her to hike to a nearby ridge to wait for him while he scaled the summit. But when he eventually got back to the rendezvous point, Vanek was nowhere to be found, and an intensive search proved fruitless.

Fast forward to August 2022: A skier and his son discovered a lone hiking boot in a seldom-searched area, which reinvigorated the long-dormant investigation. The following year, Scott Beebe—a Lutheran pastor and head of the Vail Mountain Rescue Group—said Vanek spoke to him in a dream. "She told me she wanted to be found by a team of women." That inspired the creation of an all-female search team in spring 2024. "The group wanted to get inside Vanek's head, to inhabit the choices she might have made," writes Hansman. It paid off.

Equipped with modern mapping tools, meticulous data reviews, and educated hunches, the team identified a gap in earlier search grids. In August 2024, they hiked to Mount Holy Cross' northeast couloirs and found fabric, a hiking pole with Vanek's recognizable blue mitten, and other personal items. DNA and forensic evidence followed in October, confirming remains and ruling out years of speculation about foul play. The injuries matched a fatal fall. Read the full story.