Lisanne Froon, 22, and Kris Kremers, 21, arrived in Panama airport brimming with excitement.
After months of planning, the two
Dutch students set out to hike the famed El Pianista' trail, eager for discovery and adventure.
The trek, which cuts through a dense cloud forest on the slopes of the Baru volcano, was meant to be the highlight of their trip.
But within hours they had vanished, leaving behind one of the most disturbing mysteries of modern travel.
Months later, fragments of their remains were found scattered along a remote river bank deep in the jungle.
Investigators tried to reconstruct the girls' final days through strange photos found on their camera after they disappeared.
But, without clear evidence, speculation flourished, and theories ranging from accidental misadventure to more sinister explanations - such as foul play, kidnapping, or even organ tracking quickly spread.
The women embarked on their excursion on the morning of April 1, 2014.
According to some accounts, they had brunch with two Dutch men before setting off and brought along a dog from a nearby restaurant, IL Pianista, though details vary.
The hike should have taken roughly three hours to complete but the pair had still not returned by nightfall.
Some sources claim the owners of the restaurant raised the alarm when their dog returned home that evening without Kremers and Froon.
Further panic ensued among locals when efforts to contact Kremers' father Hans were unsuccessful and they missed an appointment with a local guide the following day.
The girls' families arrived in Panama on April 6 as a major search operation got underway - with a $30,000 USD reward for anyone could find the women.
Sniffer dogs scoured the rugged landscape for any sign of Froon and Kremers but found no trace.
It would be a further two months before authorities were able to find anything relating to their disappearance.
On June 14, a blue backpack belonging to Froon was found along the Culebra River near Alto Romero, well off the main El Pianista route by a local woman.
Despite Panama's rainy season, the backpack appeared clean and dry, containing $88 in cash, sunglasses, both women's bras, their phones, and Froon's camera.
Locals claimed it had not been there the day before, fueling suspicions. Nearby were Kremers' denim shorts. There are conflicting reports as to whether they were carefully placed on a rock or simply found in disarray remains disputed.
The friends' phones revealed that around six hours into their hike someone tried to ring the emergency services 77 times.
The first distress call attempt was made by Kremers' iPhone 4 at 16:39. Shortly after that, another attempt was made from Froon's Samsung Galaxy S III at 16:51.
None of the calls got through due to lack of reception in the area.
On April 4, Froon's phone battery became exhausted after 05:00 and the phone was never used again.
Between 5 and 11 April, Kremers' iPhone was turned on multiple times but the correct PIN code was never entered again - hinting that she was not the one handling the phone.
The most perplexing clues about what happened in the women's final hours came from from Froon's camera.
Investigators discovered 133 images taken as late as seven days after their disappearance, including 90 taken in pitch darkness during the pre-dawn hours of April 8, 2014.
The majority show little beyond blackness or foliage illuminated by the flash, suggesting the friends were deep in the jungle.
A few images reveal seemingly deliberate arrangements including red plastic on sticks, tissues, a small mirror on a rock, and one image, timestamped 1.49am, which shows the back of Kremers' head.
Previous speculation suggested blood could be seen near her temple, though clearer versions did not confirm an injury.
Adding to the mystery is the missing photo #509: it does not appear in the memory card's file structure, raising questions about whether it was deleted intentionally, corrupted, or never existed in the first place.
Subsequent searches along the river unearthed scattered human remains: a foot in a boot, a piece of a pelvis, and various bone fragments.
DNA matched them to Kremers and Froon.
Puzzingly, while parts of Froon's remains still retained some skin, Kremers' bones appeared 'bleached,' with high phosphorus levels that did not match local soil conditions.
A Panamanian forensic anthropologist noted the absence of cuts or marks on the bones, adding another layer of intrigue.
The minimal remains meant that a cause of death could not be determined, however, the most likely theories suggest the women either suffered an accident or got lost and died of exposure.
But, the unusual photos combined with the bizarre findings sent the conspiracy theory mill into overdrive and sparked suggestions the women had been stalked, kidnapped and murdered while hiking on the trail.
The official investigation shifted stance over time. Panamanian authorities initially classified the case as homicide, then abduction.
By March 2015, however, it was formally closed with the conclusion that both women died in a hiking accident.
Dutch forensic teams thought rugged terrain, 30- to 40-meter cliffs, and swift river currents could explain the condition of the remains.
But, despite the official explanation, the debate over what really happened continues to this day.
Many find aspects of the narrative inconsistent with the physical evidence.
These include the sudden appearance of the backpack, the bleached condition of Kremers' bones, the missing photo #509, and 77 failed emergency calls that suggest a prolonged struggle for survival.
New and often polarizing theories have surfaced in recent years.
Highlighting suspicious details and strange camera images, some investigators believe the women were victims of kidnapping or murder.
They note that the late discovery of their remains - months after large-scale searches- could signal third-party involvement, as could possible tampering with the camera or the staging of belongings,
Medium reports.
Another elaborate theory posits that organ traffickers were informed about the two tourists, leading to abduction on the trail and captivity for several days before the women were killed.
Most researchers consider this scenario extremely unlikely, given the lack of supporting proof.
Many experts still support he official accident explanation, suggesting the pair simply went off-trail, became disoriented, and succumbed to natural hazards.
'We don't know if anybody was involved - we cannot exclude that,' Jürgen Snoeren, co-author of Lost in The Jungle, previously told The Sun.
'We believe the most likely explanation is that they had an accident - but it's not 100 percent.
'The only way to make a full conclusion is when we find the rest of the bodies. I think there should still be remains there in the jungle from the girls. But it's a hell of a job.'
Over the last five years, the public have continued to express an interest in the case.
In 2021, Dutch authors Marja West and Jürgen Snoeren published a book offering new perspectives on the mystery after trawling through police files.
Their work noted unresolved inconsistencies that keep alternative theories alive.
By the 10th anniversary in April 2024, the saga had still not been forgotten.
Advances in forensic methods and persistent amateur investigations prompted calls for reevaluation of bones and digital data.
In September 2023, a documentary reexamining the women's final days and alleged investigative oversights threw the case back into the spotlight - sparking a fresh debate about how evidence was gathered, cataloged, and analyzed.
Throughout these developments, the relatives of Kremers and Froon have stood by the official conclusion of a tragic accident, finding some comfort in closure even as the public's fascination persists.
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