Items found in Eagle County could belong to hiker missing since 2005

DENVER ( KDVR ) — The Eagle County Sheriff’s Office said Saturday that items found near Mount of the Holy Cross could belong to Michelle Vanek, who has been missing since she left for a hike on the mountain in 2005.

Vanek, who was 35 at the time, went missing on Sept. 24, 2005. According to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation , she had traveled from Denver that morning.

At the summit of the mountain, she said she was very tired, and her friend told her that he would go to the top and be right back. That was the last time the friend saw her, and other hikers in the area said they had not seen her either.

Shea Palluck, a friend of Vanek’s since elementary school, said she always thought there was more to the story than met the eye.

“It just never sat right with me all these years,” she said. “She’s been heavy in my thoughts a lot lately.”

A large-scale search effort was launched after her disappearance, with the initial search spanning eight days. Volunteers with the Vail Mountain Rescue Group and other agencies came together during the initial search.

However, Vanek was never found, and the sheriff’s office said that in the nearly 19 years since, there have been numerous formal and informal searches. This includes seven searches in recent years, mainly after discovering a boot that was forensically confirmed to belong to Vanek.

That discovery sparked hope in people close to her.

“That was exciting news and hopeful that they would find more, because you know, you just pray that her family can have some good closure,” Palluck said.

On Sept. 13, Vail Mountain Rescue Group members Erika German and Zach Smith first discovered items presumed to belong to Vanek.

“I was like, ‘This looks like everything she was wearing in the photo’. It was just kind of surreal. I mean, we both had to take a moment and sit down,” German said.

The newly found items “closely resemble” items that were known to be with Vanek, according to the statement. The sheriff’s office said among the items recovered were clothing items, two mittens, two ski poles and a backpack containing a Nalgene water bottle, digital camera, car keys and a blue hat.

They still need to undergo forensic confirmation.

“We’re very confident that these are likely to be hers but we have to wait for forensic proof,” said Sheriff James van Beek.

This is enough to offer friends and family just a glimmer of closure.

“It’s a step for all of us and it’s just been so, like, obviously emotional but we appreciate all of the search efforts,” said Michelle’s son, Grant.

Palluck said she is hopeful as the search continues, more of Vanek’s story can be told.

“There’s a song, it’s Bon Jovi’s ‘Livin’ on a Prayer.’ We were in high school. She had a convertible car and she lived up on the mountain and we would drive down the hill on Exposition and we’d sing that song. So, every time that song comes up I think of her,” Palluck remembered. “It’s always like she’s tapping me on the shoulder.”

She said more recently she was going through old photos just to see Vanek’s face again, and the first two she pulled out of the pile were of her.

“It was like my tap on my shoulder. Like, ‘I need to be found.'”

The exact location of the items was not released. The sheriff’s office said this was due to the sensitive nature of the discovery and out of respect for the ongoing search efforts.

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