Chilling True Crime Tells Story Of Two Hikers Who Vanished In The Jungle Without A Trace

Kris Kremers, 21, and Lisanne Froon, 22, were both keen travellers who travelled to the town of Boquete in Panama’s western highlands to do social work with children.

Boquete is a popular location thanks to its idyllic views of the cloud forest, waterfalls and coffee plantations.

The friends arrived in Panama for a six-week holiday on 15th March 2014. After touring the country for two weeks, they arrived in Boquete on 29th March and stayed with a local family.

They embarked on a trail at 11am on 1st April and wrote on Facebook they had plans to walk around the town. 

Froon and Kremers were last seen on 2nd April as they went walking along a mountain path in the heavily wooded area along the border with Costa Rica.

After their families stopped receiving text messages from the pair, which they had been sending daily, their parents at first believed Froon and Kramer had lost their way on a trek.

In June 2014, a backpack containing two mobile phones thought to have belonged to the hikers was found in a forest surrounding Boquete. 

Photos recovered from a camera from Froon’s backpack, found by a local near the village of Alto Romero in the Bocas del Toro region gave an idea of the women’s trek. 

The backpack contained two pairs of sunglasses, USD $83 (£61.32) in cash, Froon's passport, a water bottle, Froon's camera, two bras, and the women's phones.

Data from the women’s phones showed that just hours after starting their hike, a distress call to 112 - the international emergency number in Panama - was made from Kremers’ phone at 16:39 on 1st April 2014.

Shortly after that, another attempt was made from Froon's phone at 16:51, but none of the calls got through due to lack of reception in the area.

Froon’s camera contained images from 1st April with no signs of anything unusual. On 8th April, 90 flash photos were taken between 01:00 and 04:00, apparently deep in the jungle and in near-complete darkness. One picture shows the back of Kremers' head.

Police later found bones scattered in the area and a pair of boots. DNA testing confirmed they belonged to Kremers and Froon.

More than seven years after their deaths, it is still unclear how the two died.

In a bid to find answers about their deaths, filmmaker and explorer J.J. Kelley and journalist Kinga Phillips ventured deep into the Panamanian jungle in their series Lost in the Wild. 

In the episode ‘Hike Into Hell’, they brave torrential rains and darkness to follow the women’s footsteps, matching their photos and phone records as they go.

They find and attempt to cross the perilous cable bridge the Panamanian government says the women fell from and speak with the indigenous couple who discovered Froon’s backpack.

Finally, their investigation culminates in an exclusive, explosive interview with a forensic pathologist who shares shocking evidence.