The 19-Year Search for Michelle Vanek, Part 1

How can a person vanish in the backcountry? For nearly two decades, this question baffled rescuers and law enforcement officials in Eagle County, Colorado. On September 24, 2005, a 35-year-old hiker named Michelle Vanek disappeared on the rocky slopes of Mount of the Holy Cross. Vanek, a mother of four from suburban Denver, had been hiking with a neighbor when the two separated. Her disappearance kicked off one of the largest search and rescue missions in state history. Hundreds of people combed the slopes of the peak, but they were never able to locate any trace of Vanek. In his 2025 Outside Long Read, writer Ted Katauskas recounts Vanek’s life, her passion for the outdoors, and her fateful decision to hike one of Colorado’s most rugged fourteeners. Katauskas, a member of the Vail Mountain Rescue Group, also recounts the enormous mission to try and locate Vanek after she went missing. The first half of Katauskas’ story, The Search for Michelle Vanek, is this week’s Long Read on the Outside Podcast.