A disturbing collection of photos is at the heart of the mystery surrounding the disappearances and deaths of two young ladies in Panama. Local authorities are still puzzled by the missing file from their SD card.
In 2014 Kris Kremers and Lisanne Froon, both from the Netherlands were traveling and exploring the Central American country of Panama.
On April 1, the 21-year-old and 22-year-old went for a walk through the scenic forests around the Baru Volcano in Boquete. The Sun .HTML3_ They were both never seen again HTML3_. The Sun HTML3_. . HTML3_. . HTML3_.
After the alarm was raised on April 2, a search party was sent to look for them but nothing was found until ten weeks later when a local woman who found Froon’s blue backpack turned it in to authorities.
The bag contained her camera as well as two pairs of sunglasses, $83 in cash, Froon’s passport, a water bottle, two bras, and both women’s phones. The phones showed that just hours after the beginning of their hike, someone dialed 112 and then 911. A lack of signal prevented any calls from reaching the intended recipient.
Subsequent analysis revealed that on April 4, Froon’s phone battery became exhausted, but between April 5 and April 11, Kremer’s iPhone was turned on multiple times but whoever turned it on didn’t enter the PIN code correctly.
Two months after the backpack was found, a pelvic bone and foot — still inside a boot — were discovered in the same area, according to La Estrella de Panama. Two missing women were presumed to have left behind their full remains, which were discovered soon afterwards.
Froons’ bones looked as though they were naturally decomposing, however Kremers’ bones seemed to be a strangely bright white, as if bleached. This raises questions as to whether there was an underlying cause of their deaths.
Photographic Clues
Froon had a Canon Powershot SX270 HS which contained numerous photos, many of which were of the period of time leading up to the day of the girls’ disappearance. These were standard vacation photos that two young women would take while traveling.
There are shots of them exploring the jungle on April 1 which appear to show that all is well. Then there are no images until April 8, when 90 unsettling nighttime pictures were taken with flash in the middle of the jungle with timestamps between 1:00 and 4:00 AM.
Most of the pictures taken on April 8 are of complete darkness while some show the jungle floor, but two pictures are alarming: one is a picture of some of the girls’ belongings on a rock, and the other shows the back of Kremers’s head with what appears to be a bloodstain in her hair.
The point-and-shoot cameras number their files in an ascending order like most digital cameras. When the Canon Powershot was recovered by Dutch authorites, there was a conspicuous missing file: IMG_0509. This is significant because image 508 was the last photograph of them where they weren’t in any trouble. However, image 510 was taken on April 8, in the darkness of the jungle.
The Missing File
The Canon Powershot SX270 HS, has two methods of numbering images. “Auto Reset” and “Continuous.” This is relevant because if the camera was on “Auto Reset” and 509 was deleted before 510 was taken, then the camera would use image 509 again.
However, if “Continuous” mode was in use then even if 509 was deleted, the next image will be 510. Unfortunately, this camera setting is not public knowledge, but the default mode is “Continuous.”
Why IMG_0509 is missing, which could be a crucial piece of evidence, is an enigma. Although the possibility of a camera malfunction is possible, it seems highly unlikely. More probable is that the picture was deleted.
If a picture is deleted from a camera, it’s still possible to retrieve it. Dutch investigators attempted to recover the file but didn’t manage to retrieve any data, which suggests that the camera was plugged into a computer and the file was deleted rather than deleted from the camera.
Most fingers seem to point to the Panama authorities, who have also been blamed for a poor initial search in the immediate days after the disappearance. Others suggest they may have witnessed something they did not want others to see. Unknown person could also have deleted the file, which may be the reason for the deaths of the girls. However, the files on the card were not affected by the laptop.
An Accident?
The causes of Kremers’s and Froon’s tragic death have never been determined and the two bodies that were recovered have not even been conclusively found to be either of the girls. Dutch authors Marja West and Jurgen Snoeren claim they have solved the mystery in their book Lost in The Jungle.
After taking a deep dive into all the evidence and flying out to Panama to do their own investigation, the pair concluded that the girls’ deaths were an accident.
It was a shock to us, but we had to conclude that the girls’ deaths were an accident. It took us quite some time to get there,” the authors explain to The Daily Beast.
Snoeren and West believe that flash floods, which are typical to that area, would make strategically placing items impossible.
With all the information I have now, there is no other explanation. It was caused by flash floods that are common to that area and the season .”
The mystery still remains.
