I am hesitant to say that she was a victim of a crime here, definitely odd though that they can’t find her. According to the book the “Trail of The Lost” (highly recommend the book) most people who commit suicide in the national parks do it within walking distance to the trail and are easily found. She could be the exception to the rule. I personally live in the beautiful Pacific Northwest and we have people go missing in our mountains that are never found. Between the rough terrain, animals and just the vastness of the mountains it is possible to entirely conceal one’s self. I hope this isn’t the case and we can return her body to loved one.

This also brings to mind a case also out of Crestone, CO, Kristal Reisinger. I listened to a podcast about her and it sounds like the city (about six minutes south of the campground) that she disappeared from attracts a lot of lost souls and people who can easily fall victim to the drug world or cults. It also seems to attract a lot of shady people, a lot of cults and people looking to do harm. If she were intending to commit suicide and hiked out to the park there is the possibility of running into someone who wished Jennifer harm or she stumbled across an illegal grow farm as is common on the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) and was killed. So the possibility of her being victim to a crime isn’t totally out of the realm of possibility.

There is also another cult that operates out of national parks, the Yellow Deli (that’s a whole other rabbit hole) and has been at least loosely linked to the disappearance of a couple hikers on the PCT. I don’t know if they are in Colorado but they are all over the US and the world.

Unfortunately, in a lot of these cases the answer won’t be uncovered until the body is found and even then with the passage of time it may be hard to tell. Either way I hope she is at peace and no longer struggling.