The digital footprint from the women’s smartphones complements the camera data. Log files show that just hours after Photo 508 was taken on April 1, the women attempted to dial 112 (a European emergency number) and emergency services. Over the next several days, dozens of call attempts were made, but the deep canyon terrain lacked cellular service. By April 6, incorrect PIN codes were entered into Kris’s iPhone, suggesting either Lisanne was trying to access it in the dark or a third party was operating the device.

[ ] Look for video compilations on YouTube/Vimeo.

In April 2014, the tranquil highlands of Boquete, Panama, became the setting for one of the most baffling disappearances in modern history. Dutch students Kris Kremers (21) and Lisanne Froon (22) disappeared while hiking the Pianista Trail . While their disappearance sparked massive search efforts, it is the discovery of their camera—containing a sequence of taken in total darkness over a decade ago—that continues to haunt investigators and armchair detectives worldwide.

These images bridge the gap between a sunny hike on the El Pianista trail and a desperate, terrifying struggle for survival in the deep jungle. By examining the chronology of these photographs, we can reconstruct the final known steps of the two young women and analyze the theories that continue to divide experts. The Daytime Photos: A Normal Hike (Photos 476–508)

The real photos—the ones of a rock, a plastic bag, a tangle of hair—remain in a police vault in Panama, as silent and indecipherable as the jungle that swallowed two young women alive.

If you're looking for a (academic or investigative) on the case that discusses the photos, I recommend:

Rest in peace. And to those who hike: never cross the Mirador.

These photos are heartbreakingly mundane. They look like the Instagram posts of any gap-year traveler. They represent the threshold of the unknown, the last moments before the pair crossed a point of no return. Investigators believe that after these photos were taken, the girls likely took a wrong turn, or decided to continue past the trail's end, venturing into the wild, untamed jungle known as "El Pianista."