On June 27th, 2018, in the northern part of the Grand Canyon on a sandy section of the Tanto Trail, National Park Ranger James Foster noticed two backpacks neatly stacked near a rocky ledge.

One was bright blue with a Yale University patch.

The other was dark green with a compass attached.

Next to them lay a professional camera in a protective case and two half full bottles of water.

There were no signs of a struggle or accident, just personal belongings left as if their owners planned to return in a few minutes.

The items belonged to Brena Mitchell, 27, an elementary school teacher from Prescott, Arizona, and Savannah Ree, 26, a professional photographer from Santa Fe, New Mexico.

College friends who decided to spend a week exploring one of America’s natural wonders.

Their disappearance would become one of the most mysterious cases in the history of US national parks.

It was the strangest find in my 15 years of service, Ranger Foster recalls in his testimony.

The items looked completely undamaged, as if they had been left there a few hours ago.

But the Tanto Trail is not a popular route with only a few hikers passing through each day.

And there were no hikers in that area when we found the items.

Brena and Savannah were last seen alive on June 25th, 2 days before their backpacks were found.

A young couple of tourists from Germany took a photo showing two figures descending from the Angel’s Wind viewpoint onto the bright trail, which leads to the northern edge of the canyon.

This route was not part of their registered travel plan.

They looked completely calm and confident, says Anna Wagner, the hiker who took the photo.

The girl with the camera, I now know it was Savannah, was constantly taking pictures of the rocks and the horizon.

The other one, with light hair, was writing something intently in a notebook.

What happened after they left the lookout point? Why did experienced hikers who had carefully planned their route suddenly decide to turn onto a dangerous, unregistered trail? Why did they leave their backpacks and camera, Savannah’s most valuable equipment, in an open area? When a large-scale search operation began, hundreds of rangers, volunteers, search dogs, helicopters, and drones joined the effort.

However, apart from the abandoned backpacks, and a few footprints in the sand that disappeared at the foot of a rocky slope, there were no signs of the girls.

Their cell phones were not transmitting a signal.

Their bank cards remained untouched.

“It was as if they had simply vanished into thin air,” said Detective Carl Daniels, who led the investigation.

“We checked literally every square foot within a 5m radius of the discovery site.

You know, the Grand Canyon is a harsh place.

There are chasms you can fall into.

There are remote places where you can get lost.

But for two physically fit women to disappear without a trace is unprecedented.

Their backpacks contained maps with carefully marked roots, enough food for a week, spare clothing, first aid supplies, signal flares, and other camping equipment.

The most curious find was Brena’s small notebook, the last entry in which was dated the morning of the same day.

Savannah photographed the sunrise.

She says she saw some light in the gorge to the east.

We want to check it out after breakfast.

The search, which lasted for weeks, yielded no results.

The case gradually lost priority, becoming one of many unsolved disappearances in the American wilderness.

No one suspected that seven long years later, one of them would return to reveal the truth.

A truth that would force us to re-evaluate everything we know about the underground world of the Grand Canyon and who or what might be lurking in its darkest corners.

Brena Mitchell had always been what her friends called the life of the party.

Petite with fiery red hair and bright green eyes, she radiated an energy that was contagious to everyone around her.

As a third grade teacher at Granite Hills Elementary School in Prescott, Arizona, she had a reputation for going beyond the standard curriculum.

Her classrooms were always decorated with her students creative projects and lessons were often held outdoors.

Brena believed that learning was an adventure, recalls Karen Wilson, the school’s principal.

She could turn the most boring math lesson into an exciting game.

The kids adored her.

She took them on field trips to the mountains, taught them to identify plants and stars.

Nature was her second home.

Brena was indeed a tireless explorer.

In the 6 years after graduating from college, she visited 16 national parks, climbed eight mountain peaks, and hiked part of the Appalachian Trail.

She spent every free minute in nature, often taking with her only a backpack, a map, and a journal she had been keeping since she was 11.

Savannah Ree, on the other hand, was calm and contemplative.

A professional freelance photographer, she collaborated with publications such as National Geographic and Arizona highways.

She specialized in dramatic landscapes and the play of light in natural environments.

Tall, slender, with long dark hair, she moved with remarkable grace, almost silently.

This trait often helped her photograph wild animals that did not notice her presence.

Savannah saw the world through her lens, says Marcus Green, editor of Arizona Highways.

Her photos told stories without words.

She could wait for hours for the perfect light or angle.

Her patience was incredible, as was her talent for finding beauty where others didn’t see it.

The friends met at Arizona State University, where they both studied environmental science.

Their friendship began during a university expedition to Zion National Park in the spring of 2012.

Savannah, then a student photographer, documented the trip, and Brena was the only one who showed interest in the process of photography.

They spent the whole night talking around the campfire and discovered that despite their opposite personalities, they shared a passion for wildlife and adventure.

They complimented each other, recalls Jason Wright, their college friend.

Brena was the planner, the organizer, the one who mapped out the routes and schedules.

Savannah was the dreamer, the one who might suddenly veer off course to explore an unusual cave or photograph a rare species of cactus.

Together, they were the perfect adventure team.

After graduating from university, their paths diverged.

Brena returned to her native Prescott to teach, while Savannah moved to Santa Fe, where she opened a small photo studio.

but they kept in close contact and planned at least one joint expedition every year.

The idea for the Grand Canyon trip came up during their winter meeting in Sedona in 2017.

Savannah received a commission for a series of photographs of the canyon at different times of the day for a tourist guide and Brena enthusiastically agreed to be her companion.

“They planned this trip for almost 6 months,” says Linda Mitchell, Brena’s mother.

My daughter was a perfectionist when it came to hiking.

She had a special folder with maps, weather forecasts, and equipment lists.

She contacted park rangers to find out about trail conditions.

It wasn’t a spontaneous trip.

Throughout the spring of 2018, both girls social media feeds were filled with posts about their preparations.

Brena posted equipment lists, reviews of sleeping bags, and hiking boots.

Savannah shared photos of her new camera and articles about the best places to take photos in the Grand Canyon.

“Getting ready for a big adventure, Grand Canyon, best friends.

Wildlife,” Brena wrote on May 15th, posting a photo of two backpacks, one bright blue and one dark green, filled with gear.

A week before departure, Savannah flew to Prescott, where they finalized their preparations.

They registered their route with the National Park Service, indicating that they were planning a 7-day hike from the north rim of the canyon to the south with overnight stays at designated campsites.

They were very detailed in their plans, recalls Ranger Martin Clark, who processed their application.

They had all the necessary permits and clearly indicated the dates and locations of their overnight stays.

Of course, we warn all tourists that the weather can change quickly and that they should be prepared to adjust their plans, but they seemed well prepared.

On June 23rd, 2 days before their disappearance, the girls left Prescott for the northern part of the Grand Canyon.

Savannah’s last Instagram post showed a selfie of them in front of a welcome to Grand Canyon National Park sign with the caption, “Ready to dive into one of nature’s most amazing wonders.

The great adventure begins that same evening.

Both girls called their loved ones.

Brena spoke to her mother for almost an hour, telling her about their plans and how nervous she was about whether Savannah would be able to get all the photos she needed for her order.

She was in a great mood, full of enthusiasm, recalls Linda Mitchell.

The last thing she said was, “Don’t worry, Mom.

We’ll be safe.

I always come home.

Remember?” Savannah spoke to her father, Robert Ree, for only a few minutes, reporting that they had arrived safely and that the signal might be poor for the next few days.

She’s always been a bit of a quiet person, Robert recalls.

But I remember her sounding kind of tense.

I asked if everything was okay, and she just said, “Everything’s fine, Dad.

Just tired from the drive.” On June 24th, their first full day in the canyon, they began their hike by descending from the north rim of the canyon on the Kaibab trail.

According to their plan, they were to stop for the night at Cottonwood Campground.

“Several hikers confirmed that they saw them that day and that they seemed cheerful and energetic.

“They stopped by us during our lunch break,” said James Thornon, a hiker from Colorado.

The girl with red hair, I think it was Brena, talked a lot about the geology of the canyon, about the different layers of rock we could see.

Her friend was quieter, taking pictures the whole time.

The last confirmed encounter with the girls was late in the evening on June 24th when they set up camp at Cottonwood Campground.

The Martinez couple from Texas camped nearby.

We talked a little by the campfire, recalls Elena Martinez.

They said they planned to get up at dawn so Savannah could photograph the sunrise over the canyon.

Now looking back, I think there was some tension between them.

Nothing obvious, just that Savannah often interrupted Brena when she was talking, and Brena rolled her eyes several times when Savannah talked about her plans for the photo shoot.

According to the Martinez couple, they woke up at a.m.

on June 25th and saw that the girl’s tent had already been taken down and they were packing their things, preparing for an early departure.

They looked tired as if they hadn’t slept well, adds Juan Martinez.

I offered them coffee, but they declined, saying they were in a hurry to catch the perfect light for photography.

That was the last time anyone saw Brena and Savannah alive.

Their official plan was to follow the Kaibab trail to their next planned campsite.

Instead, as was later determined, they somehow turned onto the much less popular Tanto Trail, which was not part of their route.

What prompted them to change their plans? And why didn’t they notify the rangers as required by national park rules? The answers to these questions remained unknown for the next 7 years.

The morning of June 25th, 2018 in the Grand Canyon began with a spectacular sunrise.

The first rays gilded the upper ledges of the red rocks, gradually descending deeper into the canyon, lighting up its various shades of red, orange, and purple.

The air was clear, the visibility perfect.

According to the National Parks weather station, the temperature at in the morning was 67° F.

Perfect conditions for hiking.

Brena and Savannah left Cottonwood Campground at around a.m.

As confirmed by the Martinez couple, according to their registered plan, they were to continue along the Kaibab trail toward the south rim of the canyon.

This well-marked trail is one of the most popular in the Grand Canyon, and dozens of other hikers were on it that day.

The Kaibab trail is a tourist highway, explains Ranger Alex Marorrow.

Even on weekdays, there are always people there.

In addition, there are several ranger stations and drinking water stations along the route.

If they had stuck to their plan, they would have been spotted many times during the day.

However, according to the investigation, something caused the girls to turn off the Kaibob trail at around a.m.

Surveillance cameras at the Hanging Garden Ranger Station located on the Kaob Trail did not record them passing through, even though all tourists walking this route must pass this point.

At a.m.

, Savannah posted her last selfie with Brena on Instagram.

The photo shows the two smiling girls standing at a viewpoint known as Angel’s Wind, a small rocky outcrop offering a panoramic view of the western part of the canyon.

The caption was short.

Discovering new horizons, unexpected paths.

This selfie became a key clue in the investigation, says Detective Carl Daniels.

First, the Angel’s Wind viewpoint is not located on the Kaibab trail, but on the Bright Trail, which branches off the main route to the northwest.

Second, this location was not included in their official hiking plan.

And third, to get there from the Kaibab trail, they would have had to make a conscious decision to turn off the route, walk about 2 mi on the Bright Trail, and then another half mile on an unofficial trail.

Most concerning is that the Bright Trail is considered moderately difficult, but it then transitions into the Tanto Trail, which is classified as experienced hikers only due to its remoteness, challenging terrain, and limited access to drinking water.

Why did two hikers known for their thorough preparation and adherence to safety rules suddenly change their carefully planned route? Part of the answer may lie in the weather conditions that day.

Despite an ideal morning, weather reports show that around a.m.

the weather began to change dramatically.

Thunder clouds were forming over the northwestern part of the canyon.

The weather was unusual on June 25th, recalls meteorologist David Richardson.

We recorded a sudden drop in barometric pressure around a.m.

By noon, a thunderstorm system had formed over the western part of the canyon.

Such summer storms are not uncommon for the region, but this one was particularly intense and moved quickly.

By 100 p.m.

, a severe thunderstorm with lightning p-sized hail and wind gusts of up to 40 mph was raging over much of the canyon.

In such weather conditions, hikers are advised to seek shelter and not continue their route until the weather improves.

If they were indeed on the Tanto Trail during this storm, they were in a potentially dangerous situation, explains Ranger Marorrow.

This trail passes through open areas with minimal lightning protection, and some parts of it can quickly turn into streams during heavy rain.

The last reliable trace of Brena and Savannah’s presence is a geo tag on a selfie posted at .

After that, their cell phones registered a strange pattern of activity.

Brena’s phone last connected to the network at p.m.

According to Verizon, interestingly, the signal was not picked up by the cell tower closest to the Tanto Trail, but by a tower located on the southern edge of the canyon, nearly 18 mi away from the Angel’s Wind Lookout Point.

“It’s technically possible, but extremely unlikely,” comments telecommunications expert Jeremy Lopez.

A cell phone signal is usually transmitted through the nearest tower.

To connect to the tower on the southern edge, Brena’s phone would have to be in a very specific spot with a direct line of sight to that tower without any obstructions.

Given the topography of the canyon, there are virtually no such spots on the Tanto Trail.

Even more puzzling is Savannah’s phone activity.

Her iPhone last connected to the AT&T network at p.m.

just 12 minutes after Brena’s phone last signaled.

But the location was completely different.

The signal was recorded from a tower near the village of Tusayan about 30 mi south of the girl’s last known location.

We considered the possibility that they had somehow split up and were traveling in different directions, explains Detective Daniels.

But that contradicts everything we know about them as experienced hikers.

All safety instructions emphasize staying together, especially in extreme weather conditions.

None of the phones had transmitted any signals since p.m.

Their social media accounts remained inactive and their bank cards were not used.

2 days later on June 27th, Ranger James Foster, while conducting a routine patrol of the Tanto Trail, discovered their backpacks and equipment.

The site was located about 3 and 1/2 miles from Angel Wind Lookout on a remote section of the Tanto Trail that is rarely visited by hikers.

When I first saw the backpacks, I thought I had stumbled upon someone’s temporary camp, Foster recalls.

But then I realized there were no tents or people nearby.

The backpacks looked completely intact, neatly stacked against a rock, as if someone planned to return for them.

A detailed inspection of the site revealed several disturbing details.

First, the backpacks had not simply been left behind, but had been methodically arranged.

They were placed upright against the rock with all pockets and compartments carefully zipped shut.

Second, Savannah’s camera, a professional Canon EOS worth several thousand, was neatly placed nearby in a protective case.

Savannah would never have left her camera behind, insists Jessica Harris, Savannah’s friend and colleague from the photo studio.

It was her most valuable work tool.

She took great care of her equipment.

Even in a critical situation, she would have taken her camera with her.

Even more surprising was what was found inside the backpacks.

In Brena’s blue backpack, they found an almost untouched supply of food, energy bars, nuts, dried fruit, all neatly packed in airtight bags.

In the side pocket were two water bottles about half full.

In a hidden pocket was a wallet with credit cards and cash, $243.

This doesn’t look like a situation where people are fleeing danger.

Daniel’s comments.

If they were leaving in a hurry because of a threat, they would probably have grabbed the essentials.

Water, food, maybe a first aid kit, but the items looked as if they had been deliberately left in perfect order.

Savannah’s dark green backpack contained a similar picture.

Food supplies, spare clothes neatly folded into vacuum bags, and an untouched first aid kit.

The only anomaly was Savannah’s missing diary, which her friends and family mentioned, a leather notebook where she recorded details of her photooots and personal impressions.

Rangers thoroughly searched the entire area within a radius of several hundred yards, but the diary was never found.

An examination of the scene revealed another mystery, the absence of clear tracks.

2 days after the girl’s disappearance and after a heavy thunderstorm, it was difficult to find fresh tracks, but expert trackers were still able to identify several fragments of footprints leading from the location of the backpacks toward a steep rocky slope.

The tracks ended at the foot of the cliff, explains Ray Gonzalez, a tracking expert involved in the investigation.

It looked as if they had approached the cliff and simply disappeared.

We searched the entire area around it, looking for signs that they might have climbed the cliff or gone around it, but we found no convincing evidence.

Analysis of the photos from Savannah’s camera raised even more questions.

The last photos taken at around 100 p.m.

showed a growing storm over the canyon.

But there were also several photos of a strange rock formation resembling an arch that could not be identified on any of the official maps of the national park.

This arch is another mystery, notes Ranger Marorrow.

There are several natural arches on the Tanto Trail, but none of them match the one in Savannah’s photos.

We showed these photos to many experienced rangers and geologists who know the area well, but no one could pinpoint the location.

A whole series of strange details.

A sudden change of route, neatly left backpacks, last phone signals from illogical locations, the disappearance of Savannah’s diary, an unknown rock arch in the photographs.

All this created one of the most mysterious disappearance cases in the history of the Grand Canyon.

Theories ranged from a tragic accident during a storm to voluntary disappearance, from criminal abduction to the most fantastical assumptions about paranormal phenomena allegedly occurring in the most remote corners of the canyon.

But none of these theories could fully explain all the strange circumstances of the case.

The Grand Canyon kept it secret, swallowing Brena Mitchell and Savannah Ree without a trace, without a witness, without a convincing answer to the question, what happened that summer day in one of America’s most visited national parks.

The official search operation began on June 27th, 2018, immediately after Brena and Savannah’s backpacks were found.

Within the first 24 hours, the National Park Service mobilized more than 40 rangers, organizing a methodical search of the area within a 5mm radius of the discovery site.

“We launched one of the largest search operations in the history of the Grand Canyon,” said Robert Hawkins, the park’s rescue operations manager.

During the first week, more than 120 people participated in the search, including rangers, the Cookanino County Police, volunteers from Arizona Search and Rescue, and later special agents from the FBI.

The search was conducted using a strict methodology, dividing the area into sectors and systematically combing through each one.

Particular attention was paid to gorges, caves, and other natural formations where the two hikers could have hidden or become trapped.

K9 units played a key role in the initial search.

Four specially trained search and rescue dogs were brought to the site where the backpacks were found on the second day of the operation.

Our dogs are one of the most effective tools in such situations, explains dog handler Marta Rodriguez.

They can track a person’s scent even several days after they passed by, even after rain, even in the extremely difficult conditions of the canyon.

We let them smell the girl’s personal belongings from their backpacks, and they began their search.

The dog’s behavior became one of the most mysterious elements of the entire investigation.

All four dogs confidently picked up the trail from where the backpacks were found and headed west along the Tanto Trail.

About a quarter of a mile in, they reached a rocky outcrop known to rangers as the Sentinel, a massive red monolith rising nearly 100 ft above the trail.

Something strange happened at the foot of this rock, Rodriguez recalls.

All four dogs, independently of each other, stopped searching.

They sat down, whed, and spun around in circles.

Classic behavior when they lose a scent.

But this wasn’t a gradual fading of the scent.

It was a sudden abrupt loss.

It was as if the smell had literally vanished.

Repeated search attempts using other dogs yielded similar results.

None of the service dogs were able to pick up the trail after that point, prompting investigators to thoroughly search the area around Sentinel Rock.

We were looking for any signs that the girls might have climbed the rock, says Ranger James Foster.

But there were no signs of climbing, no scuff marks on the rock, no traces of shoe material, no hooks.

We also checked for natural cavities, caves or crevices where they could have gotten in.

Nothing.

On the third day of the search, three search helicopters equipped with thermal imaging cameras and high precision cameras joined the operation.

They methodically scanned an area within a 20 m radius, focusing on hard-to-reach canyons, gorges, and plateaus that ground teams could not easily access.

The Grand Canyon looks completely different from the air, explains rescue helicopter pilot Michael Black.

You see things that are impossible to spot from the ground.

Natural passages between gorges, hidden caves, water sources.

We checked every square yard of territory within a radius of many miles, and we found no signs of human presence in places not visited by tourists.

In addition, drones were used to explore particularly dangerous areas where victims could have ended up.

Experts analyzed every inch of the footage, looking for any signs, pieces of clothing, equipment, traces of a campfire, soil displacement.

All these technical means yielded no results.

Brena and Savannah seemed to have vanished into thin air.

Meanwhile, the families of the missing girls organized their own information campaign.

Linda Mitchell, Brena’s mother, and Robert Reese, Savannah’s father, held press conferences, distributed flyers with photos of their daughters in all the towns near the Grand Canyon, and created social media pages dedicated to the search.

We know they’re out there, Linda Mitchell said tearfully at one of the press conferences.

My daughter is strong, smart, and prepared.

She knows how to survive in the wild.

Anyone who has seen them, anyone who knows anything, please contact us or the police.

The family offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to the girl’s whereabouts.

This led to an avalanche of calls, most of which turned out to be false leads or even deliberate attempts to mislead.

“We received hundreds of calls,” recalls Detective Daniels.

“People claimed to have seen them in motel in Flagstaff, in supermarkets in Phoenix, even on beaches in California.

We checked every report.

We reviewed hundreds of hours of surveillance camera footage.

We interviewed dozens of potential witnesses.

Nothing.” However, several pieces of evidence caught the investigators attention.

Three independent witnesses reported seeing a strange tourist on the Tanto Trail at about the same time Brena and Savannah could have been there.

The descriptions of this person were consistent.

A tall man with gray hair wearing a widebrimmed hat and carrying a small backpack dressed disproportionately warmly for the June heat.

The man was acting strangely, said hiker Elizabeth Crowe, who encountered him on June 25th at around a.m.

He didn’t have enough water for a hike in the canyon, didn’t look sweaty despite the heat, and kept looking over his shoulder as if he was afraid of being followed.

When I said hello, he muttered something incomprehensible and quickly walked away.

Investigators created a composite sketch of the man and distributed it to local media.

However, no one was able to identify the mysterious tourist and his connection to the girl’s disappearance remained unconfirmed.

As days turned into weeks without any progress, the investigation began to focus on various theories of what might have happened.

We considered all possibilities, Daniels explains.

The most obvious version is an accident.

Perhaps they were seeking shelter during a storm and got into a dangerous situation.

A landslide, a fall, a sudden flash flood in a dry riverbed.

But the problem is that we found no physical evidence of such a scenario.

No bodies, no pieces of equipment, nothing that would indicate injury or death.

Another theory, voluntary disappearance, was also considered by investigators.

Perhaps the girls planned their disappearance in advance, using the hike as a cover to start a new life somewhere else.

“We studied their finances, social connections, and internet search history in detail,” said FBI agent Lisa Wong, who joined the investigation in the second week.

We found no signs of preparation for disappearance, no large cash withdrawals, no unusual purchases, no searches for information about changing identities or moving abroad.

In addition, both girls were close to their families and had stable careers.

They simply had no motive to disappear.

The most surprising find of the entire investigation was Brena’s second backpack discovered 2 weeks after her disappearance.

The old red backpack, which according to her mother, Brena usually took on day trips but not on long trips, was found by a hiker at the bottom of Hawks Canyon, a remote branch of the Grand Canyon located 20 mi southeast of where the main backpacks were found.

It didn’t make any sense, Daniels admits.

To get from the Tanto Trail to Hawks Canyon, you either have to walk nearly 30 m through extremely difficult, unmarked terrain, or drive to the road, drive, and then walk again.

How did that backpack end up there? And why would Breny take a second backpack on a hike where every ounce of weight counts? The red backpack contained only a few energy bars, an empty water bottle, and a map of the Grand Canyon with a marker indicating a route leading from the Tanto Trail to an unknown point deep in the canyon in an area known to rangers as the Twilight Zone due to its rare visits by tourists.

When the search party following this map reached the marked point, they found nothing but a rocky wall with a few barely visible symbols carved into the stone.

symbols that no archaeologist could link to any known Native American petroglyphs in the region.

After six weeks of intensive searching with no significant progress, the scale of the operation had to be scaled back.

Some rangers continued to patrol the area where the disappearances occurred periodically, but most resources were returned to their usual duties.

The case of Brena Mitchell and Savannah Ree remained open, but gradually became a cold case, a mysterious disappearance with no traces, no witnesses, and no solution.

The passage of time feels different in national parks.

Geological formations that are millions of years old stand unmoved as human dramas unfold and are forgotten.

The Grand Canyon has seen countless sunrises and sunsets since Brena Mitchell and Savannah Ree disappeared.

Their case has gradually been archived, becoming one of dozens of unsolved disappearances in the vast expanses of American wilderness.

5 years have passed since that day in June 2018.

5 years without a single reliable lead, without a single confirmed sighting, without any evidence of what happened to the two young women who simply vanished in one of the country’s most visited national parks.

This is the hardest part for the families of the missing, explains Dr.

Eleanor Greenberg, a psychologist who specializes in counseling families of missing persons.

the lack of closure, the inability to bury their loved ones, the eternal balancing act between hope and grief.

This is what experts call unresolved loss, one of the most difficult types of trauma.

Brena and Savannah’s families reacted to this uncertainty in different ways.

Linda Mitchell, Brena’s mother, dedicated her life to searching for her daughter.

She founded the Find Brena Foundation, which organized annual search expeditions to the area where she disappeared, involving volunteers from across the country.

“I feel her presence every time I come to the canyon,” Linda said in an interview with CNN on the third anniversary of her disappearance.

“A mother’s heart knows she’s out there somewhere.

Maybe not in the canyon itself, maybe somewhere far away, but she’s alive and I won’t stop until I find her.

The foundation also worked to raise awareness about safety in national parks, organized wilderness survival seminars, and pushed for improvements in tourist tracking and rescue systems.

Robert Ree, Savannah’s father, took a different path.

He delved into the investigation files, spending thousands of dollars on private investigators and experts, looking for something the official investigators might have missed.

He created a detailed digital reconstruction of his daughter and Brena’s last known movements, analyzing every minute of their last day.

I don’t believe in coincidences, he stated in the documentary, Missing, stories from the national parks, their phone signals, the discovery of a second backpack 20 mi away, the symbols on the rock.

These are all pieces of the puzzle.

I just haven’t figured out how they fit together yet.

The National Park Service also learned from this case.

In the 5 years since Brena and Savannah disappeared, new safety protocols have been implemented to prevent similar situations.

We’ve updated the route registration system, explains Maria Lopez, deputy director of the National Park Service for Safety.

Now, tourists planning multi-day hikes receive satellite beacons that activate an automatic alarm if the person does not check in at the planned points.

We have also installed additional ranger stations on remote trails and expanded surveillance camera coverage.

One of the most significant innovations is an electronic tracking system that allows tourists to mark their location via a mobile app, even in areas without regular cell phone coverage.

If this system had existed in 2018, we might not have lost Brena and Savannah, Lopez notes.

But their case pushed us to improve and thanks to that we have saved dozens of lives in recent years.

However, despite all the improvements, people continued to disappear in national parks.

In the 5 years since Mitchell and Ree went missing, at least 36 people have disappeared without a trace in US national parks, their cases remaining unsolved.

Four of these cases bore a striking resemblance to the Brena and Savannah case.

tourists who disappeared without a trace, leaving behind neatly packed gear with no evidence of accident or foul play.

“There is a phenomenon we call the wilderness disappearance pattern,” explains criminologist James McKenzie, who has spent 10 years researching unsolved disappearances.

“These are not just random accidents.

In some of these cases, we see recurring elements.

personal belongings left in perfect order.

No signs of a struggle.

Last known location near geological anomalies or ancient cultural sites.

5 years after their disappearance, media interest in Brena and Savannah’s case usually flared up on the anniversary of the event or when new, albeit minor, leads emerged.

Documentaries, true crime podcasts, and television specials periodically covered the story, adding new theories and speculation, but never coming close to solving the mystery.

On the fifth anniversary of the disappearance, the Cookanino County Police announced the appointment of a new lead detective on the case, Maya Ortiz, a cold case specialist with an impressive track record of solving old crimes.

I’m approaching this case with a clean slate, Detective Ortiz said at a press conference.

New eyes, new methods, new technology.

Sometimes it takes a completely fresh perspective to solve a case.

Someone who isn’t fixated on previous theories.

Ortiz brought to the investigation advanced forensic technology that was not available 5 years ago.

She reanalyzed all physical evidence, including backpacks and their contents, using advanced DNA and microparticle detection methods.

Now, we can detect traces of a person’s presence in a particular place, even years after the event, she explained.

We find microscopic particles of soil, pollen, minerals that can tell us where these backpacks have been other than where they were found.

One of the most interesting aspects of the case over the past 5 years has been the growth of online communities dedicated to investigating the disappearance.

Forums, subreddits, and social media groups brought together thousands of enthusiasts who analyzed every detail of the case, proposed theories, and sometimes even conducted their own expeditions to places related to the disappearance.

Internet detectives sometimes find things that official investigators have missed, comments Michael Baker, creator of the popular podcast Lost in the Wild.

They can devote thousands of hours to analyzing satellite images, historical documents, and Native American traditions associated with specific locations.

Its collective intelligence in action.

However, it was in these online communities that the most unusual theories about Brena and Savannah’s disappearance began to emerge.

Some enthusiasts delved into Navajo legends about passageways in the canyon, points where, according to mythology, one can pass into other worlds.

Others developed theories about secret underground bases or even paranormal phenomena.

When a case remains unsolved for many years, people start looking for explanations beyond ordinary logic, explains Dr.

Celeste Wright, a sociologist who studies the phenomenon of online investigations.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Sometimes the most outlandish theories force us to look at the evidence from a new angle.

One such theory caught the attention of Detective Ortiz.

A group of amateur researchers analyzing satellite images of the Grand Canyon over the past 10 years discovered a strange anomaly near the site of the disappearance.

A small round structure resembling a cave entrance which appeared in the images only after a major landslide in 2021.

We are checking all reasonable leads regardless of their source.

Ortiz said, “This cave was not registered on the park’s official geological maps, and we are planning an expedition to explore it.

” So, 5 years later, the case of Brena Mitchell and Savannah Ree, although still classified as cold, began to gain new momentum.

Despite years of fruitless searches, numerous false leads, and dashed hopes, the people touched by this story never stopped searching for the truth.

And none of them could have predicted that their persistence would soon be rewarded in the most incredible way.

Exactly 7 years after Brena Mitchell and Savannah Ree disappeared, a group of geology students from the University of Arizona were conducting field research in the western part of the Grand Canyon.

Professor David Martinez led six students along a littleknown side canyon about 2 mi from where the missing girls backpacks had been found.

We were studying Deavonian period deposits.

Professor Martinez explains, “This part of the canyon is rarely visited by tourists, but it contains interesting geological formations.

I bring students here once a year.

The group descended into a small gorge known among geologists as Echo Cave because of its unusual acoustics.

22-year-old student Emily Chang left the main group to take pictures of the crystalline formations on the walls of the grotto.

“I noticed a narrow passage between two rocks that wasn’t on our maps,” Emily recalls.

“It was almost invisible, a crevice no more than 2 ft wide, partially covered by a boulder.

Out of curiosity, I shown my flashlight inside.” What Emily saw made her immediately call the professor and other students.

Beyond the narrow passage was a small cave, and on its rocky floor lay an object that immediately caught the attention of everyone present.

A battered, dustcovered, but still recognizable professional camera.

I knew right away that this was a serious find, says Professor Martinez.

The camera was partially damaged by moisture, but it didn’t look old enough to have been lying there for decades, and it was clearly not a cheap tourist point andoot camera, but professional equipment.

The group carefully retrieved the camera without touching anything else in the cave and immediately contacted the park ranger service.

2 hours later, rangers led by James Foster, the same man who found the backpack 7 years ago, arrived on the scene.

When I saw the camera, I gasped.

Foster recalls.

It was a Canon EOS5D Mark IV, the exact same model Savannah Ree used.

The camera was damaged, but the memory card was still inside.

The rangers carefully documented the location of the find and transported the camera to the National Park Service headquarters, where technicians carefully removed the memory card and attempted to recover its contents.

Most of the files were damaged after years in a dry cave, explains Evan Rodriguez, an FBI forensic technician.

But we were able to recover 23 images.

The photos found on the memory card shocked investigators.

The first few images matched the chronology of known events.

Morning shots of the canyon, selfies of the girls at the Angel’s Breath viewpoint, photos of a growing storm.

But the last photos revealed something completely unexpected.

The pictures showed the entrance to a cave hidden behind a stone arch, describes Detective Maya Ortiz.

The next shots were taken inside.

Long winding corridors, strange rock formations resembling man-made structures.

But the most disturbing were the last two photos, blurred due to poor lighting, but you could make out human silhouettes in the distance as if watching the photographer.

Based on the geological features visible in the photographs and the location of the camera, a team of rangers and geologists determined the approximate location of the entrance to the cave system.

It was only half a mile from the mysterious Sentinel Rock where search dogs lost track 7 years ago.

On June 12th, a special team of rangers and speliologists set out for the designated location.

Using modern equipment, they discovered a camouflaged entrance, a narrow vertical crevice partially hidden by a rock ledge which led to a branched system of underground tunnels.

This cave system was not marked on any official park maps, explains Dr.

Alan Weber, the expedition’s lead geologist.

Its entrance is so inconspicuous that it could have remained unnoticed for decades.

But inside is a huge complex of caves and tunnels that we estimate extends for several miles.

The search party had only gone a few hundred yards into the tunnels when they received a radio message that forced them to return immediately.

At the main ranger station on the south rim of the Grand Canyon, an event occurred that turned the entire investigation upside down.

At p.m., an exhausted woman with long, tangled gray hair and wearing tattered clothes, who had arrived at the ranger station by unknown means collapsed unconscious at the registration desk.

At first, we thought she was a tourist suffering from heat stroke, recalls Sarah Johnson, the ranger on duty that day.

That happens in the summer.

But when we started giving her first aid, she came to and said something that shocked everyone there.

My name is Savannah Ree.

I disappeared 7 years ago.

The Rangers were initially skeptical of this claim.

The woman looked much older than 33, the age Savannah would have been.

Her hair was completely gray, her skin was pale and dry, as if she hadn’t seen the sun in years, and her body was extremely emaciated.

“It took several hours to establish her identity,” says Carl Daniels, who was still working for the Cookanino County Police Department.

We called Savannah’s father, Robert Reese, to identify her.

Despite the dramatic physical changes, he recognized the distinctive mole on her left cheek and the scar on her right wrist.

DNA analysis later confirmed that it was indeed Savannah Ree.

At the hospital in Flagstaff, where she was immediately taken, Savannah was in a state of severe exhaustion, dehydration, and psychological shock.

Her statements were confused and often incoherent.

They’re still down there in the dark.

They found us.

Brena stayed.

The door closed.

Such fragments are recorded in the initial medical report.

The doctors who examined Savannah were shocked by the condition of her body.

Her physical condition was consistent with someone who had been living in extreme conditions for years, explains Dr.

Michael Freriedman, who headed the medical team.

a severe vitamin D deficiency indicating a prolonged absence of sunlight, vision adapted to darkness characteristic of people who have been in caves for a long time, unusually developed hearing, and most amazingly, traces of a specific diet, poor in traditional food elements, but high in minerals characteristic of underground water sources.

When Savannah was stable enough to give official testimony, she told a story that seemed unbelievable.

A story about a cave system stretching deep beneath the Grand Canyon, about darkness becoming home, and about Brena, who may still be alive but remained there deep underground.

Over the next two weeks, while Savannah Ree recovered at the hospital in Flagstaff, her testimony gradually came together into a coherent picture.

A story so incredible that investigators initially dismissed it as psychological trauma and hallucinations.

However, when a special team of rangers and speliologists explored the cave system further, they found evidence to corroborate her story.

There is a whole network of caves under the Grand Canyon that are not on any maps, Savannah explained during her first official interrogation, which was recorded on video.

But the most important thing is that there are people there, a community.

They have been living there for generations, completely isolated from the outside world.

According to her story, on June 25th, 2018, during a thunderstorm, she and Brena noticed a strange light coming from behind the Sentinel Rock.

Following it, they found a hidden entrance to a cave and seeking shelter from the storm, went inside.

“We thought it would be a small cave where we could wait out the rain,” she recalled.

“But the tunnel led deeper and deeper.

We decided to leave our backpacks at the entrance, taking only a few things and a camera so that we could easily find our way back.

Deep inside the cave, she said, they came across a strange settlement.

Dozens of people living in natural cave chambers lit by blue bioluminescent moss and mushrooms.

The community, which called itself the guardians of silence, consisted of descendants of explorers, geologists, and tourists who had found these caves over the past 150 years.

and decided to stay there forever.

They didn’t hold us by force, Savannah insisted.

But it was almost impossible to leave.

The entrances and exits were controlled.

We were told that we were now part of their community, that there was no point in trying to leave.

The most shocking part of Savannah’s testimony was her description of how Brena sacrificed herself to help her friend escape.

After 7 years, we were still looking for a way out,” she said, trembling.

Brena came up with a plan.

She caused a collapse in one of the tunnels, creating panic.

While everyone was busy rescuing the victims, I had to slip through a rarely used exit.

She was going to follow me, but I heard them catch her.

The last thing I heard was her scream, “Run, Savannah.

Tell everyone.” The expedition team that explored the cave system after Savannah’s return found numerous signs of human presence, man-made structures, remnants of primitive tools, traces of fires.

However, they did not find any people, as if the community had moved deeper into the underground after Savannah’s escape.

We found a room that apparently belonged to Brena and Savannah, said Speliologist Eric Sanders.

On the wall was a calendar with markings stretching back almost 7 years.

There was a makeshift bed with two indentations and most strangely fresh traces of human presence no more than a week old.

Savannah’s health raised the most questions.

Despite years of underground existence with minimal access to sunlight, her overall condition was much better than doctors had expected.

Tests showed the presence of unusual minerals in her blood and tissues, which according to doctors could have healing properties.

Did Brena really stay voluntarily? Savannah’s answers to this question were contradictory.

In one interview, she claimed that Brena was completely devoted to the community, even receiving the status of senior guardian.

In another, she said that Brena had planned to escape with Savannah, but was caught.

The most shocking twist in the case was the discovery of Savannah’s diary, which she had hidden while in the hospital.

When psychologist Dr.

Eleanor Greenberg accidentally found it, she was shocked by its contents.

The last entries contained the phrases, “Their world now seems so superficial.

I found something more down there.

Brena is waiting.

I’ll be home soon.” On July 27th, 2025, just 1 month after her miraculous return, Savannah Reese disappeared from her hotel room in Flagstaff.

She left only a short note.

I did what I promised.

I told their story.

Now I’m going back to my real home.

A large-scale search operation launched immediately after her disappearance yielded no results.

The only evidence left was the testimony of Ranger James Foster, who while patrolling the area around the cave entrance, found fresh footprints of women’s shoes leading straight to a crack in the rock.

The tracks were clear, Foster said.

One person walking confidently into the cave.

No signs of coercion or struggle.

The cases of Brena Mitchell and Savannah Ree officially remain unsolved.

The entrance to the cave system is sealed and guarded around the clock.

Arizona state authorities are considering a petition from the families to organize a full-scale expedition to search for the missing persons.

Meanwhile, legends about people under the canyon are spreading across the internet, attracting the attention of paranormal researchers from around the world.

How many more secrets does the Grand Canyon hide in its dark mapped depths? And who or what really lives under one of America’s natural wonders?