Woman Vanished In Colorado Mountains — 4 Years Later Found In A Hut, Wild-eyed And Smiling
In June 2018, Imagigen Owen, a 33-year-old architect from Denver, arrived in the mountain town of Silverton, Colorado, at the beginning of summer. After the ski season, Silverton typically settled into a quiet interval before tourists returned in full numbers. Imagigen had planned a solo hike through a remote section of the San Juan Mountains, following part of the Colorado Trail. She intended to be gone for 5 days.
A few days before her departure, she wrote to her sister that she wanted to clear her head of city noise and finally hike the stretch of trail she had dreamed of since her university years. She deliberately chose a section near Silverton, describing it as the highest, wildest, and least touched by civilization.
The night before her hike, Imagigen stayed at the Prospector’s Lodge. According to the owner, she appeared confident and well prepared. She had a new backpack, a mountaineering GPS, a paper map of the area, and a satellite phone designed to work in areas without cell coverage. In his later testimony, the owner said she did not look like an amateur and seemed to know exactly what she was doing.
That evening, she ate dinner at a local coffee shop called Miner’s Rest. The barista later told police that Imagigen spent a long time talking about old mining routes in the area, particularly the road leading toward Anderson Peak. At one point, she wrote something down in a notebook.
On the morning of June 22, Imagigen left Silverton at approximately 7:00 a.m. At 7:45 a.m., surveillance cameras at the Sunrise Fuel Gas Station captured her purchasing gas for her portable burner, several energy bars, a bottle of water, and a map. The footage showed her paying in cash, smiling at the clerk, and walking back to her vehicle.
At 4:09 p.m. the same day, her blue Toyota 4Runner was recorded parked at the trailhead near Molas Pass. In the visitors’ log, beneath her name, she wrote a short message: “Return Tuesday.”
Weather reports from that week indicated clear skies and high temperatures. Tour groups hiking in the Anderson Peak area did not report any accidents or emergencies. One couple from New Mexico later told police that on Sunday night they heard a scream that might have been human, but they assumed it was a fox or a cougar and did not investigate further.
When Imagigen did not make contact on the expected day, her sister initially assumed there had been a weather delay or a technical problem with the satellite phone. By the next morning, after still receiving no signal, she contacted the San Juan County Sheriff’s Department. The missing person report was filed at 8:45 a.m., and within 2 hours an official search operation was launched.
Local rescuers, volunteers, and 3 dog handlers participated in the effort. A helicopter surveyed the area from Molas Pass west toward an old quarry, but found no trace of her. According to one rescuer, the dogs picked up a scent near the parking area and followed it to a rocky slope roughly 1 mile from the road. There, the trail abruptly disappeared.
Search teams conducted excavations in the area but found nothing of significance, only a few old metal fragments believed to be remnants of discarded hiking equipment. On the fourth day, thunderstorms began. Heavy rain washed away fresh tracks and made further searching impossible. The sheriff’s report noted that no signs of a fall, struggle, or blood were found.
Imagigen’s personal belongings remained inside her vehicle. Her wallet, phone, and documents were untouched. Everything suggested she had walked down the trail and vanished. The official explanation initially leaned toward an accident, but rumors circulated among some rescuers about possible outside interference. One volunteer later told reporters they had noticed an old truck parked nearby, though the owner was never identified.
Police found no evidence of a crime. By the end of June, the search was formally suspended. The final report stated, “The trail broke off on an open stretch of rocky slope. The subject’s location is unknown.” Imagigen Owen’s name was added to the Colorado missing persons registry.
Her sister continued searching independently for several months, posting signs along roads between Silverton and Durango. No leads emerged. What initially appeared to be a typical hiking disappearance became one of the most puzzling cases in the San Juan Mountains. There were no witnesses, no explanation, and no indication of where the woman who left behind only a short note could have gone. In one of her last messages, she had written, “The weather is perfect. Be in touch in 4 days. Don’t worry.”
More than 4 years passed.
In September 2022, a group of geology students from the University of Colorado conducted field research in a remote area of La Plata County, between the town of Hermosa and the surrounding mountain slopes. Professor David Grant had received official permission to survey the territory of an abandoned quarry once operated by Grace Veil Enterprises. Archival records showed the mine had been closed in the 1980s after a landslide sealed its main entrance. Over time, the area became overgrown with forest and was considered unsafe for visitors.
The students were tasked with updating geological maps of the area using drones and laser scanning. On September 19, around noon, the team arrived at the site. The weather was dry with little wind. The terrain consisted of several levels of quarry rock, an abandoned mine overrun by aspen trees, and the remains of destroyed buildings that once housed equipment.
One of the students, Ethan Moore, launched a drone to survey the slopes. After a few minutes, he noticed a heat anomaly on the screen that differed from the surrounding rocks. At first, he assumed it was an animal. As the drone moved closer, the camera captured a thin line of smoke rising through the trees.
The footage revealed a small structure made from fragments of boards, tarps, and metal sheets. It stood inside a narrow gorge, concealed by boulders and spruce branches. One student later described it as resembling a hunting shelter or an old gatehouse. Professor Grant instructed the team to check the coordinates to determine whether it was part of the former mining infrastructure.
Moments later, the drone camera captured something that brought the group to silence. A face appeared in the window.
According to the official police report, Ethan immediately stopped recording and informed the professor. Grant decided they would not approach the structure and instead contacted the La Plata County Sheriff’s Office. The group remained at their camp, observing from a distance. Smoke continued to rise from the hut for about 30 minutes, then stopped. No movement was seen.
At 4:22 p.m., 2 patrol vehicles and a rescuer with a search dog arrived. Body camera footage later showed officers moving slowly through dense undergrowth toward the structure. The door was made from several boards bound together with wire. When an officer knocked, there was a faint rustling inside.
The door opened without resistance.
An emaciated woman stood in the doorway. Her hair was long, tangled, and streaked with gray. Her face was pale and marked with small scars. She wore makeshift clothing sewn from scraps of fabric and thin leather. She did not respond to questions and stared past the officers as if she could not see them.
When Sergeant Lindsay asked if she needed help, she replied only with a quiet, unintelligible murmur. According to the rescuer’s report, she repeated one phrase twice.
“He is building a temple. We are the foundation.”
When asked to sit, she complied without resistance, lowering herself to the ground while keeping her gaze fixed on an invisible point in the distance.
Inside the hut, officers found a few primitive items: a tin can fashioned into a burner, a stone knife, a bowl of dried berries, and a pile of dirty rags used as bedding. On one wall hung a crude wooden cross tied with rope. Nearby were charcoal drawings—circles, triangles, and rough human figures.
Doctors who examined her documented severe exhaustion, dehydration, and numerous healed scars. Her age was initially estimated at around 30. Later that evening, fingerprint analysis confirmed her identity.
She was Imagigen Owen, missing since June 2018.
