On the afternoon of June 9th, 2013, a 19-year-old woman named Marine Kelly, who everyone just called Anu, told her friends she was going on a spiritual quest. Anu and her friends were camping at Canyon Creek Campground in the Gford Pincho National Forest, right near Cougar, Washington. At around 5:00 p.m.that day, Anu just stood up, took off all of her clothing, including her shoes, and told her friends she might be back by midnight. The only thing she kept with her was this small fanny pack that had some knives, matches, and a compass inside of it. Enu’s friends weren’t actually that surprised by this. I mean, for weeks leading up to this camping trip, she had been talking about going on some sort of spiritual journey. And so, when she finally did it, her friends were kind of like, “Okay, this is something she clearly needs to do.” But they were definitely concerned that she was going into the woods completely naked and with no shoes on. Anu just walked away from the campsite except for a fanny pack and disappeared into the forest. Well, the forest she walked off into is the Gford Pincho National Forest. And folks, it’s no joke. It is absolutely massive. 1.32 million acres of wilderness that stretches along the western slopes of the Cascade Range. And this forest has everything from broad old growth forests to high mountain meadows, glaciers, and volcanic peaks. I mean, it’s just this enormous wild place. and of course very beautiful and wondrous to explore. Now, the specific campground where Anu and her friends were staying, which was Canyon Creek Campground, is a tiny, rarely used place that’s kind of tucked deep into the forest. In fact, it’s so small and hidden that there’s not even a sign marking the entrance. You just have to know it’s there, and it really only has like eight campsites, and it’s just tent camping. Additionally, the terrain around it is incredibly steep with heavy timber and thick brush everywhere. And so eventually midnight came and Anu had not returned to her campsite. And at this point, her friends really started to get worried. By the early hours of June 10th, they had officially reported her missing to the authorities. The Scammania County Sheriff’s Department immediately launched a search op. Under Sheriff Dave Cox was one of the officials who made some public statements about the case and he basically confirmed what Annu’s friends had already said that she had been talking about doing this spiritual quest for quite some time. And he said, you know, the folks that she was with, they felt that this was something she needed to do. But Cox also pointed just how challenging the search conditions were. And he explained that, you know, it’s a rough, remote area. There’s a lot of timber, a lot of brush. It’s going to be a tough go for her, especially with no shoes. And while he acknowledged that it was a little bit unusual for a 19-year-old to just leave a campsite completely nude, he also explained that there was no indication that she was on drugs or anything like that. But Anu wasn’t just some random person who decided to wander off in the woods. Her halfsister, Sherry, described Anu as a very laid-back, carefree girl and a very affectionate person. And Anu had actually called Sherry shortly before heading into the forest to ask if she could borrow some camping gear.
So, this trip wasn’t spontaneous. I mean, she had clearly been planning it. And as the search for her continued, search teams were able to determine that after leaving the campsite, she had crossed Canyon Creek and then headed north. It looked like she was climbing upwards towards Forest Service Road 54, but after that point, they completely lost her trail. In fact, even the K9 units were unable to pick a percent. Sharon Ward, who was with Pacific Crest Search Dogs, commented on just how difficult the terrain was. And she even explained that where Annu had entered the creek is amazingly steep. So, how she got down there barefoot is a wonder. And how she came out of the bottom is also a wonder. Now, to make matters worse, there was a very thick cloud cover that was preventing copters from scanning the Canyon Creek area. So the rescue crews were very limited to just ground searches. You can imagine with just with the dense vegetation that this would be an incredibly difficult search. Now according to some reports the official search was actually suspended after just 2 days. But then it resumed briefly after Annu’s family and friends protested. And by the final day of the search, there were approximately 75 volunteers involved, and they had covered about four square miles of this very challenging terrain. Sadly, the official search was formally suspended at 6:00 p.m. on June 15th, 2013, which was about 6 days after she vanished. Despite all these extensive search efforts, they couldn’t find any trace of her or her belongings. It was like she had just had simply vanished.
The investigators developed the theory that Anu had likely died in the wilderness. They believed that she probably succumbed to exposure in the cold night temperatures. But the thing is, even though the weather on that day she disappeared was mild. The night dipped into the 40s with some light rain and without clothing, she could have quickly developed hypothermia. Or alternatively, they suggested she might have fallen in the steep terrain and been injured. But there might be something more to this that we don’t know. Anu’s friend Yasmin offered a different perspective and explained that she may not want to be found. And that’s kind of an interesting take. Maybe Anu intentionally disappeared and doesn’t want to be discovered. I mean, it’s hard to say though because she had things going for her. She had a loving mother, good friend. and she was actually an aspiring singer and songwriter. Unfortunately, as of now, which is 12 years since her disappearance, neither Anu nor any of her belongings have ever been recovered. Her case remains officially unsolved, and there are still many questions about whether her disappearance was due to some misadventure, self harm, or even foul play. Unfortunately, we just don’t know. Interestingly, in August of 2024, human remains were discovered in the same area that she vanished, but they are speculated to be another hiker who also vanished that same year, although we don’t have the data yet, so it’s inconclusive for the time being.
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