In November of 2020, a woman disappeared on the Dry Canyon Trailhead in Diamond Fork Canyon, located about an hour outside Salt Lake City, Utah. Her car was abandoned at a campground, and the Utah County Sheriff’s Office deputies found nothing but an old tent on the trail.
Nearly six months later, a drone crashed and found the impossible.
The Location Was Diamond Fork Canyon, Utah
By Ben Hasty/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images
Located outside of Salt Lake City, Utah, Dry Canyon Trailhead in Diamond Fork Canyon attracts many hikers, campers, and wilderness lovers each day.
With campgrounds and hikes to beautiful hot springs, it is one of the hidden gems of Utah. Sadly, in 2020, a woman went missing on the trail.
ADVERTISEMENT
A Search Began After Her Car Was Found Abandoned
Utah County Sheriff’s Office
It was November of 2020 when a 47-year-old woman ventured onto the Dry Canyon Trailhead in Diamond Fork Canyon. Unlike other day hikers, she did not make it back to the parking lot.
The search began the same day as her disappearance after US Forest Service officials found her car abandoned at one of the trails campgrounds.
ADVERTISEMENT
A Question Of Mental Health
Garrett Parker/Unsplash
After investigating the surrounding area and the campground where the woman’s car was left, detectives concluded — the missing woman might struggle with mental health.
During an interview, one of the detectives on the scenes said they gathered information « that suggested this woman might struggle with mental health challenges. » Co-workers would later corroborate this information.
ADVERTISEMENT
Volunteers Joined The Search
Michael Macor/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images
The conclusion brought more people onto the scene, wanting to help find the woman lost in the vast wilderness of the trail and canyon.
Along with the Utah County Sheriff’s Office deputies, search and rescue volunteers began scouring the area, hoping to find some clues about where the woman might be.
ADVERTISEMENT
An Abandoned Tent
Cristofer Maximilian/Unsplash
Sadly, no one in the search party came up with anything; they had no clue where the woman ventured off to, or why.
The only thing that gave any semblance that she might have passed through was an abandoned tent tucked away in the foliage. No one was there, though, and they couldn’t be certain it even belonged to the missing woman.
ADVERTISEMENT
Did She Want To Be Found?
Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Eventually, authorities concluded that the missing woman didn’t want to be found. They believe she voluntarily left her car and wandered into the wilderness of Diamond Fork Canyon. The question was, why?
They didn’t even have people to contact to gain information on the missing woman. At the time, it was nothing more than a waiting game, hoping a clue or trace of her would show up.
ADVERTISEMENT
They Were Not Going To Stop Looking
Ben Hasty/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images
The Utah County Sheriff’s Office deputies and the forest service were at a loss; they had no idea where the missing woman could be. It didn’t help that Diamond Canyon was so vast either. She could be anywhere.
Even so, they didn’t give up hope that one day they would find her.
ADVERTISEMENT
Searching By The Ground And The Air
Michael Macor/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images
In a press release, Sergeant Spencer Cannon of the Utah County Sheriff’s Office spoke of what they had found, or didn’t find, on the trail.
He said, « Detectives and Search and Rescue officials with the Utah County Sheriff’s Office (UCSO) searched the area by ground and from the air but could not find anyone. »
ADVERTISEMENT
Telephone Records And Potential Trip To Colorado
Volodymyr Hryshchenko/Unsplash
After the trail led to a dead-end, the Utah County Sheriff’s Office decided to dive into some detective work. They decided the next best plan of attack was to check telephone records and see if they could pinpoint her location.
What they found suggested she made her way to Colorado after leaving her car and camping apparatus behind.
ADVERTISEMENT
A Months-Long Search That Led Nowhere
Daniel Schäfer/picture alliance via Getty Images
While the Utah County Sheriff’s Office met another dead end with the telephone records, not believing she had made her way to Colorado, they decided to try and identify her family.
With the information they had accumulated, they were unable to find anyone. According to Sergeant Cannon, « Over the next several months, efforts were made to identify and contact family without success. »
ADVERTISEMENT
Co-Workers Cooborated The Detectives’ Hunch
Geography Photos/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
While they were unable to contact family members, the sheriff’s department was able to locate co-workers. The co-workers corroborated what they had already thought, that she did, in fact, struggle with mental illness.
They didn’t know why she would wander into the Diamond Canyon area or where she would have gone.
ADVERTISEMENT
An Aerial Team Came Into The Mix
Lennart Preiss/picture alliance via Getty Images
It took several months, but the department finally put together a team comprised of a Utah County Sheriff’s Office sergeant, a search and rescue coordinator, and a group from a nonprofit aerial search organization.
They hoped to find some evidence leading them to the missing woman, which would help them locate her.