Daughter of Wendy Rose holds out hope as search for missing hiker continues in Alabama forest

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ( WIAT ) — David Rose had tried calling his daughter, Dana, while she was at work.

He then texted her.

“ Mom is missing . Call me back.”

Dana didn’t know what that meant. It was unlike Vendula Rose to leave without anyone knowing where she was. On Sept. 20, Rose had traveled from their home in Marysville, Ohio to Alabama for some hiking. Having briefly lived in the Birmingham area for several years beforehand, she was very fond of exploring the woods in the area, often traveling to the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee for quick day trips. According to police, Wendy had reportedly made her way to Cheaha State Park on Sept. 24.

By Oct. 5, five days after Dana received her father’s text, Rose’s car had been found abandoned at the Pinhoti Trail Head of the park.

Dana and her family have been left with a lot of questions as her father works with police and volunteers in Alabama to find Rose, scouring miles of forest looking for her.

“We’re exhausted sick worrying about her,” Dana said.

Many just learning of Rose’s disappearance may only know her as a missing hiker, but her own story covers more ground. Vendula, who affectionately goes by “Wendy,” was born in Kolin, a small town in the Czech Republic, and came to the United States in 2001, not long after meeting and marrying David Rose while he was in Prague during Thanksgiving. She was 18 years old.

“He got lost and asked her for directions, and then he asked if she wanted to go dance with him,” Dana said. “From there, they fell in love.”

The young couple eventually settled in Ohio, where Dana was born. Not one to stick with a single career, Rose did everything from train dogs, work as a mechanic, test drive cars at the local Honda plant, write poetry, ride horses and even work security at Walmart.

“You can’t put her in a box,” she said.

But it was nature where Rose, whose spirits could be lifted simply by sitting in the barn among her horses, was really in her element.

“She always talked about living in a cabin, waking up with the sun behind the hills in the morning,” Dana said.

Rose even became a pilot, getting her license in 2016 partly as a way to encourage Dana, who had just begun taking an interest in flying. Today, Dana is a flight instructor at Bowling Green State University.

“She showed me that just because you have a dream and you don’t have the tools, it’s possible to get there,” she said.

But more than her wide range of interests, what stands out to Dana about her mother was her heart, from the time she fed a homeless man with the food from her backpack while hiking in Zaleski State Forest to the last time she spoke to her in September, where she told her how proud she was of her.

“My mother is a very compassionate, selfless, loving person,” she said. “She would drop everything to help you.”

As Rose’s family wrestles with unanswered questions, they have also had to deal with conspiracy theories and harassment from strangers online.

“The amount of people that make up things for the clout is very disrespectful,” Dana said.

As an experienced hiker, it doesn’t make sense to Dana that her mother simply got lost in the woods.

“Once you learn to read a map, it’s not difficult to know where you are,” she said.

Still, no matter where she is, Dana continues to hold onto hope.

“We’re really hoping she just walks out of those woods, wondering what the big deal is,” she said.

Anyone with information on where Wendy Rose could be is encouraged to call Investigator Sims at the Cleburne County Sheriff’s Office at 256-463-2277 ext. 110. Those wishing to remain anonymous can call 256-463-2277 and dial “Option 4.”

Photos of Vendula “Wendy” Rose can be seen below.

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