Sobering story of two tourists who vanished before camera was found and left behind disturbing clues
On 1 April, 2014 two women set out on a hike in Panama and never returned. Ever since then, investigators have been left baffled as to what happened to them.
Dutch women Kris Kremers, 21, and Lisanne Froon, 22, had travelled to Panama with the aim of volunteering at a school and spending time abroad.
The pair had set off on 1 April a decade ago to try and hike the 'El Pianista' trail in Panama but they never returned.
A huge search operation was launched to try and find the two women, but it was ultimately unsuccessful.
New evidence
Two months later, a backpack belonging to Froon was discovered by a riverbank, and inside it contained money, water, two phones and a camera.
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The devices helped provide clues as to the movements of the women and what they did in the days following their disappearance.
Looking at the phones, officials determined that about six hours into the hike both women had attempted to call the emergency services but been unable to do so due to lack of signal.
They'd dialled both Panama's emergency services number and an international number to try and get help.
Investigators determined that the phone belonging to Froon, a Samsung Galaxy SIII, ran out of battery on 6 April and wasn't switched on again, while an iPhone 4 belonging to Kremers was periodically switched on between 5 April and 11 April, though the device's PIN number was never correctly entered to unlock it.
Whether that means someone who didn't know the code was trying to get into the phone or whether it was just being switched on to check the signal is not known, and Kremers' phone was switched off for the last time on 11 April.
Studying the camera, there were a number of photos of the women's belongings laid out on a rock as well as pictures of the back of Kremers' head.
There were also a series of pictures taken between 1am and 4am on the morning of 8 April, with flash photography illuminating the darkness of the early morning.
Once the backpack was found it prompted fresh search efforts, which turned up human remains including a pelvic bone and a boot with a foot inside.
The search also found some clothes belonging to Kremers, neatly folded and placed upon a rock.
DNA testing confirmed that the remains belonged to the two women, but lacking the rest of their bodies no official cause of death has been given.
Accident or murder?
What exactly happened to them when they went missing is a mystery we might never solve.
While some suggested the women's death had to be accidental, others conjectured it could even have been murder.
After reviewing police files, Dutch authors Marja West and Jürgen Snoeren said in their 2021 book Lost in the Jungle that they think they know what happened.
They told the Daily Beast: "It actually came as a surprise to us too, but our conclusion had to be that it was an accident. It took us quite some time to get there."
They concluded flash floods typical in the region 'made staging scenes or strategically placing items impossible' for any potential killer.
Topics: World News, Travel
Joe Harker