22-year-old Lisanne Froon and 21-year-old Kris Kremers both grew up in Amersfoort in the Netherlands.
Lisanne was creative, responsible, smart, and a passionate volleyball player, who had just graduated with a degree in applied psychology. While Kris had just completed her studies in cultural social education emphasizing art education
The two friends had saved up their money for a long-planned trip to Panama. They would vacation in the beautiful country for six weeks. The two planned to learn Spanish and maybe do something of significance for the locals of the country, they particularly were interested in volunteering with children.
The trip was also to serve as a reward for Lisanne’s recent graduation. In the weeks before the trip the two friends moved in together in a dorm room and both worked at a cafe, In den Kleinen Hap.
With much excitement, the two young women arrived in Panama on March 15th, 2014. Touring around the country and taking in the sites,
spending some time in Bocas Del Toro… By March 29th, 2014 they found themselves in Boquete, they were to live with a local family for a month to volunteer with local children, but due to miscommunication, they had arrived too early for their planned program. In a journal entry, Kris Kremers had noted the individuals they dealt with were not friendly and were quite rude. This entry was dated April 1st, 2014.
Attempting to make the best of the situation the two women decided to take in as much of Boquete as possible, so they hired a tour guide which was scheduled for April 2nd, 2014. However, they decided they would explore a bit on their own on April 1st. The two chose to see the area that surrounded the active Baru Volcano which goes towards the Continental Divide.
Experts say this area is easily explored by tourists and if one were to become lost on the 3-mile stretch they would be easy to find.
Setting out around 11 am along the Pianista Trail the two women had a backpack and no other supplies. Though an unlikely companion joined them… His name was Blue, a stray dog, known among the community. Blue was seen following the young women on the trail.
At some point during their journey, the women had asked an innkeeper for directions. The innkeeper advised them to take a taxi back into Boquete. Other than this sitting of the women, no one ever saw the women again, alive. Some locals have said they saw the women having lunch with two young Dutch men before leaving for their hike but that story has never been confirmed.
When the dog Blue arrived back to the village it was noticed by locals that the two women had not come back. By April 2nd, the pair had missed their appointment with the tour guide they had scheduled and their families grew concerned when they hadn’t received any communication from the two.
On April 3rd, 2014, local authorities began an aerial search of the forest as well as foot searches throughout Boquete.
On April 6th the parents of the two women arrived in Panama bringing along detectives, police, and dogs from the Netherlands to conduct a
full search of the forest. This search lasted for ten days.
An award was offered. $30,000 in US currency for any information leading to the whereabouts of the young women.
Searches and investigations continued well into June of 2014 with no results. Some of the locals wondered if the two had been victims of a crime in the town and were never actually on a hike. However, evidence found proved this to be false.
A blue backpack was found by a woman from the local Ngabe tribe. She stated the backpack was sitting on the bank of a river. Within the backpack authorities found sunglasses, two cell phones, a camera, two bras, a water bottle, and Lisanne’s passport. Though this is one of the most mysterious pieces of the story.. Because if the girls had left the backpack there it would mean they veered off the trail 5 miles into the dense jungle.
Authorities now examined the backpack and particularly the cell phones. It appeared the phones stayed powered on and active for almost 10 days after the women went missing. Authorities discovered that the young woman made multiple calls to 911 just several hours into their hike. Only one call connected and lasted two seconds due to poor reception.
Sometime after the attempted calls authorities were able to determine that someone entered an incorrect passcode multiple times on Kris’s phone and then powered off. On April 11th, 2014, Kris’s phone was powered on one last time. Authorities were led to assume at least one of the young women was alive possibly five days into the search.
After examining their phones, authorities went on to examine the camera found in the backpack. The camera had hundreds of photos on it. Some appeared to be normal photos of the girls. Smiling and photographing themselves together. After the first several photos, they began to appear as if something was off.
One particular photo showed Kris with a very concerned expression on her face. This picture was taken around the time that the emergency calls were made. Other photos seemingly were taken on April 8th between 1 am and 4 am. The photos were of random images taken in the dark, scenes of foliage, canyons, a bridge, and one with a stick with plastic sticking to it. There were over 90 images like this.
It was also noted that image #509 had been deleted from the camera.
Some theories about these photos and some believe that the women may have been using the photos as trail markers. Possibly they were kidnapped and thought if authorities found the camera, the photos could lead to them. Or some speculate that they may have been using the flash of the camera as a light source or to scare animals away.
Most believe the women were kidnapped and their abductors were taking those photos. During this time Lisanne’s family asked authorities to not release these photos to the public. Though a Panama-based program accidentally released some of the photos and then a Dutch program did the same but focused on the back of someone’s head, it appeared to be Kris’s head, which appeared to have blood in her hair,
indicating a head injury.
This led authorities to wonder if Lisanne was using the camera to document markers to assist rescuers in finding her and her injured friend.
Authorities began searching again once the backpack was found. Focusing along the Rio Culebra near the village of Alto Romero.
Right! And during this search, something very odd popped up…Kris Kremer’s clothing… They were found folded and arranged neatly at the river’s edge. Her shorts zipper was zipped up and folded. They were about a half mile upstream, on the opposite side of the river from where the tribal women found the backpack.
This discovery stemmed more searches with teams of foreigners and locals canvasing the Northwest areas of Panama. Approximately two months after the backpack was found, human remains were found.
A piece of pelvis bone was found along with 33 scattered bone fragments. The fragments were scattered over a large area. A boot with a foot inside of it was also found. DNA confirmed the remains to be those of Lisanne Froon and Kris Kremers. Lisanne’s bones still had some skin attached to them, leading authorities to believe they were alive for some time before the bones had been found. Kris’s bones appeared to have been chemically altered, some will say they were bleached and others say lime… Though, there is no definitive answer as to what chemical may have been used on her bones.
Forensics noted that the bones had no scratches… It was also determined that some bones found belonged to at least 5 other people.
When no other evidence could be found as to what happened to the young women the Attorney General of Panama declared it a tragic hiking accident and closed the case. Though the families of the young women were not satisfied… The Kremer family, represented by attorney Enrique Arrocha, felt that all evidence was not investigated and not all leads were researched. He stated, “The official version of the story makes no sense.”
Some even speculate that Arrocha’s body language was tense and indicative of him being afraid… possibly threatened. During his time representing this case, he was always accompanied by a bodyguard…
Though we can’t leave out the possibility of all the indigenous tribes in the area… In January 2020, a mass grave was found in a nearby location in Panama. It contained the bodies of one pregnant woman and six children. Nine indigenous people were arrested as a result of this. Police went on to save 15 more people who were next in line for this type of murder… Some tribes still believe in sacrificial killings.
What do you believe? Were Lisanne Froon and Kris Kremers the victims of a tragic hiking accident? Or was this something far more sinister? A local government cover-up? A scared indigenous tribe who was killed in fear? Or lastly… was this sacrificial? It may simply just remain part of the realms of the unexplained.
