What Happened to Kris Kremers and Lisanne Froon?

April 1, 2014, Dutch students, Kris Kremers and Lisanne Froon, set out on a hike while on their trip to Panama, never to be seen alive again.

Kris Kremers and Lisanne Froon grew up in Amersfoort, in the province of Utrecht, Netherlands. Lisanne had graduated college, earning her degree in Applied Sciences from Deventer, and Kris had just completed her studies in cultural social education and the University of Utrecht. Lisanne moved into a dorm room with Kris in Amersfoort, and they worked together at the café/restaurant ‘In den Kleinen Hap’, saving all their money for a trip to Panama.

Six months later, money saved and planning complete, the girls set off; the trip part reward to Lisanne for graduating, and the opportunity for Kris to use what she had learned and do something of significance for the locals, such as volunteering to work with the children. They also saw it as a great opportunity to learn Spanish.

They were housed with a host family, and spent their first two weeks backpacking around the Panamanian jungle as part of a mission trip. They made arrangements to remain with their host family for an additional four weeks, so they could volunteer at a local school.

At 11:00 AM on April 1, 2014, Kris and Lisanne waved goodbye to their host family and set out for a hike with the family dog. They had posted on Facebook that their plan was to walk around Boquete. They were seen having brunch with two young Dutch men, before embarking on a trail that ran near the clouded forests that surrounded the Baru volcano. Perhaps they would even take the trail of Pianista.

That evening, the family dog returned home, without Kris or Lisanne. The family searched the area surrounding their home, but found no sign of the girls. Giving them the benefit of the doubt, the host family decided they would wait until morning, and continue their search.

Kris and Lisanne were scheduled with a local guide for a private walking tour of Boquete, but they never showed up for their appointment. It was then that their host family contacted the authorities. The next morning, authorities conducted an aerial search of the forest, as well as a foot search with the help of local residents.

The families of both Kris and Lisanne hadn’t heard from them since April 1. When they still hadn’t heard anything by April 6, the girls’ parents boarded a plane along with detectives from the Netherlands. Together, police, dog units and the Netherlands detectives searched the forests for a solid ten days. Kris and Lisanne’s parents offered a reward of $30,000 USD, but even this didn’t bring them any new information.

After ten weeks, and no sign of the girls, police began to slow their search efforts, but it was then that a Ngobe woman came forward. She turned over a blue backpack she claimed to have found on the riverbank near her village of Alto Romero, in the Boco del Toros region. Inside, authorities found two pairs of sunglasses, Lisanne’s passport, a water bottle, two bras, and $83 in cash.

But that wasn’t all. The backpack also contained Lisanne’s camera, and both of the girls’ cell phones. Immediately investigating the phones and cameras, police were shocked to find out that the phones had remained in service for nearly ten days after the girls disappeared.

Over the course of four days, there were 77 attempts to contact the police, via 112, the emergency number in the Netherlands, and 911, the emergency number in Panama. The first two calls were to the 112 emergency number, and came just hours after Kris and Lisanne set out on their hike. Unfortunately, due to the dense jungle, neither call went through. In fact, out of all 77 calls, only 1 managed to get through, but it broke up after only two seconds.

Additionally, police discovered that on April 6, there were several attempts, all unsuccessful, to unlock Kris’ phone with an incorrect PIN number. The phone battery had completely died by April 11. Whoever was trying to access the phone never succeeded, and the phone remained locked until it was in police hands.

Next, police went through the camera. The first few photos were harmless enough, taken the morning of April 1, just when Kris and Lisanne left for their hike. They were on a trail near the Continental Divide. The last few images in this first set indicated the girls had left the Pianista, and likely crossed over to the other side of the Divide. There, a network of trails exist that are not maintained by rangers or guides. Trails used almost exclusively by tribes of indigenous people living within the forests. This included the Ngobe people, who’s village was approximately 12 hours by foot from the Continental Divide, and where the girls’ backpack was found.

The next set of photos was a little more concerning. They were taken on April 8, in the dead of night between 1 and 4 AM. The photos showed the girls’ belongings spread out on rocks, plastic bags, and candy wrappers, oddly piled mounds of dirt, and a mirror. The most alarming sight, however, was the back of Kris’ head with blood spilling from her temple.

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It was time for police to go out to the area where the backpack was found and search again. With the help of the Ngobe people, authorities found Kris’ clothing folded neatly at the edge of the Rio Culebra, River of the Serpent.Two months later, a pelvic bone and a foot, still protected by its boot, were found. As well as two handfuls of bone fragments.  

DNA tests were conducted, and a total of five fragmented remains were successfully identified as belonging to Kris and Lisanne. The boot and foot were Lisanne’s, and the pelvic bone belonged to Kris. However, the other bone fragments were identified as belonging to approximately three other persons.

The condition of the remains raised more questions than answers. Lisanne’s bones showed signs of normal decomposition, and they even held small pieces of flesh attached to them. Kris’ bones, on the other hand, were blindingly white, as though they had been bleached. There were no marks on the bones, and why were there bones of other people mixed in with theirs?

Neither Dutch nor Panamanian forensic teams could provide a cause of death. The Dutch felt it was likely an accident, why the Panamanians admitted it could have been a criminal act. The case was declared “a crime against personal integrity,” by Panama’s attorney general, but when forensic teams failed to come to a conclusion, the case was closed.

November 2014, Attorney General Betzaida Pitti publicly declared the women dead of a hiking accident, having been “dragged to death” in the river.

Since then, the deaths of Kris and Lisanne have been blamed on kidnapping and rape, cartel hitmen, organ traffickers, and even pygmy cannibals. Whatever happened to these girls, we may never know.

Though we don’t know what happened to Kris and Lisanne, maybe you can figure out Where’s Amy Lynn Bradley.