Found Deceased CA - Courtney Bryan, 32, & dog, Booch, Hunt Hot Springs, Shasta-Trinity National Forest, 23 Sep 2021

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I wonder what the song was as well. Is it something she would have listened to? Could the dog have run off or after something and she got deeper into the wooded area? It's been a long time since she was last seen and the missing car is concerning as I would think my above comment, the car would have been located at the park somewhere. IMO
 
I'm afraid she may have unintentionally gone off the road in her vehicle. That is some remote, steep and rough terrain and parts are heavily forested which makes it very difficult to send up drones to search for signs of her and doesn't lend itself to reliable cell service. It is already dipping into freezing temps overnight. IMO the best hope of finding her is by off highway vehicle users or hunters. I will continue to hold out hope for her safe return but as time goes on and the weather turns colder my concern for her and her Booch's survival only grows.

Travel Management Overview
The Shasta-Trinity currently has more than 3500 miles of roads and trails open to motorized use for both high clearance street legal vehicles and off highway vehicles, and more than 1000 miles of roads open to passenger car vehicles. However unmanaged recreation, including OHV use, has resulted in unplanned roads and trails, erosion, watershed and habitat degradation, and impacts to archaeological sites and yet still doesn’t provide a quality recreation experience for the public. This impedes the Forest’s ability to focus our limited resources to protect our natural resources, conduct project work, and provide safe and reasonable access for the enjoyment of the public.

Shasta-Trinity National Forest - Home (usda.gov)

Also of interest (dates BBM):

Know Before You Go
Season of Use
Most recreation sites within the STNF are open from May 15 through September 15. During the remainder of the year, some sites may be kept open as needed or as weather permits. Recreational facilities that remain open will offer reduced services. Some water systems are turned off during the winter months.

Shasta-Trinity National Forest, California - Recreation.gov
 
Can't find any firm clarification on her last known location. Was it at the hot springs or in Redding? Did she disappear in the forest or in the city? Can anyone confirm???

Also, according to her sister's tiktok her grandpa died about a week before she was reported missing. Could this have impacted her disappearance?
Really hope she was just seeking some emotional healing and inadvertently let the days slip away

Based on my personal experience and IMO: Even as an experienced outdoorswoman, I would never feel safe in any remote area of northern CA alone. I'm always on edge up there even in the company of a large, physically strong boyfriend and a 9mm. All Norcal national forests and any areas outside of urban centers are extremely desolate with minimal LE presence. I essentially consider these to be lawless areas...

Hoping for a confirmed sighting of Courtney soon
 
Hair of the Dog said:
I'm afraid she may have unintentionally gone off the road in her vehicle. That is some remote, steep and rough terrain and parts are heavily forested which makes it very difficult to send up drones to search for signs of her and doesn't lend itself to reliable cell service. It is already dipping into freezing temps overnight. IMO the best hope of finding her is by off highway vehicle users or hunters. I will continue to hold out hope for her safe return but as time goes on and the weather turns colder my concern for her and her Booch's survival only grows.

Travel Management Overview
The Shasta-Trinity currently has more than 3500 miles of roads and trails open to motorized use for both high clearance street legal vehicles and off highway vehicles, and more than 1000 miles of roads open to passenger car vehicles. However unmanaged recreation, including OHV use, has resulted in unplanned roads and trails, erosion, watershed and habitat degradation, and impacts to archaeological sites and yet still doesn’t provide a quality recreation experience for the public. This impedes the Forest’s ability to focus our limited resources to protect our natural resources, conduct project work, and provide safe and reasonable access for the enjoyment of the public.

Shasta-Trinity National Forest - Home (usda.gov)

Also of interest (dates BBM):

Know Before You Go
Season of Use
Most recreation sites within the STNF are open from May 15 through September 15. During the remainder of the year, some sites may be kept open as needed or as weather permits. Recreational facilities that remain open will offer reduced services. Some water systems are turned off during the winter months.

Shasta-Trinity National Forest, California - Recreation.gov
Click to expand...

Definitely possible to have a vehicle incident on the road to hunt hot springs, but thought her last known location was in the city of Redding via traffic cam?

Very important IMO where the actual last sighting was. We really need a clear timeline!

It's definitely below freezing at night now, was just traveling in that area, but at an even lower elevation this past weekend and the low was 25

OHV users and hunters are extremely valuable resources, but they go out in the forest so we really need to know if she went missing out there or in the city of Redding
 
Protectwomenandgirls said:
Can't find any firm clarification on her last known location. Was it at the hot springs or in Redding? Did she disappear in the forest or in the city? Can anyone confirm???

Also, according to her sister's tiktok her grandpa died about a week before she was reported missing. Could this have impacted her disappearance?
Really hope she was just seeking some emotional healing and inadvertently let the days slip away

Based on my personal experience and IMO: Even as an experienced outdoorswoman, I would never feel safe in any remote area of northern CA alone. I'm always on edge up there even in the company of a large, physically strong boyfriend and a 9mm. All Norcal national forests and any areas outside of urban centers are extremely desolate with minimal LE presence. I essentially consider these to be lawless areas...

Hoping for a confirmed sighting of Courtney soon
Click to expand...


This is as firm as l found from MSM linked below:

""After reporting her missing on Sept. 27, authorities were able to discover that Bryan’s last phone calls and texts were in the national forest, including one at 9:03 p.m. on Sept. 23 to a friend that just included a link to a Spotify song.""

Sister Turns to TikTok to Find Sibling Who Vanished in a Forest

l was trying to determine if on the Redding traffic cam her car was heading South or North - it made sense to me that after her Hot Springs visit she went to maybe have dinner in Redding?

Then headed back north as those last texts came from “in the National Forest” - maybe camp for the night? Or going to a hotel (which after googling there are a lot within the forest range)

l wish the Police had more to go on..

Anything - credit card info - etc

If she did decide to go off the grid she didn’t inform any family and left her cat alone - that doesn’t make sense to me. She clearly loves her animals.

I was also trying to find a time that she posted that Instagram photo from Hunt Hot Springs - l think it was after her text to her friend at 9:03pm with the song - l can’t confirm that yet. If so she would not have been driving. Texting and posting to Instagram requires both hands…

all this is JMO
 
Questions that come to mind:

Did Courtney use a credit or debit card on a regular basis? When, where and what was the last activity?

Did she specifically plan to travel to that area on her days away or was it a more spontaneous choice?

Was she familiar with the area? Did she rely on GPS (it can lie!) or did she use maps for directions?

Was she known to be prepared with supplies and for emergencies when she camped?

Did she discuss her plans with her former boyfriend that she called to get information about the hot springs?

Where was the traffic cam located that picked up her vehicle in Redding? Was it on I-5 or in town? Was her vehicle captured by more than one camera?

I5-SR44 Traffic Cam (traffic-cams.com) Cal Trans

Cameras now active at:
Cypress Avenue at Bechelli Lane. Market Street at Shasta Street. Market Street at Lake Boulevard. Pine Street at Tehama Street.

Red Light Cameras | City of Redding
https://www.cityofredding.org › departments › resources

Have they been able to ping her phone?

The number of people who go missing in the back country is really quite staggering.

Why hundreds of people vanish into the American wilderness (nypost.com)

I am holding out hope that Courtney and Booch will be found and hoping there is a break before it gets any colder and before the snow starts to fall.
 
Shasta-Trinity is not a National Park, though (I'd feel much better about this, if it was). National Parks have entrance gates and entrance fees (although Joshua Tree doesn't staff their entrances any longer - you're still supposed to stop and pay a fee at the Visitor Center). National Forests are huge, with almost no staff and no law enforcement based in the Forest (National Park rangers aren't always LE, but these days, most are).

9. pm that far north in summer, would be just after dark - probably still twilight-ish. But why does her car end up in Redding?

Was she on some sort of vision quest-like thing, to choose those hot springs as a destination? I'm trying to think back to my own times of roaming alone in National Parks and Forests, I wasn't exactly careful, to say the least.

She climbed too, right?
 
This case caught my eye because I'd just visited the Shasta-Trinity National Forest earlier this year (before the wildfires that were there this summer). We took the 89/I-5 loop around to see a bunch of waterfalls. It's an absolutely beautiful area.

Putting together a quick timeline:
(source for dates unless otherwise marked)
SEP 16 - Grandfather died
SEP 22 - Went to work as usual in Reno, NV
SEP 23 - [time?] Last Instagram pics posted from Hunt Hot Spring, CA
SEP 23 - 6:02pm vehicle spotted on street camera in Redding, CA (source)
SEP 23 - 9:03pm sent Spotify link to friend via text (source)*
SEP 27 - Scheduled to work; did not show up
OCT 2 - Possible sighting in Gardnerville, NV (though article indicates "none [of the sightings] has turned out to be Courtney")
OCT 9 - Missing persons TikTok posted

*Sunset in Big Bend, CA on Sep 23 was at 6:59PM. Full darkness would have been at 8:29PM. (source)

Weather at the time attached below (source)

Also attaching a map below showing Reno, Hunt Hot Spring, Redding, and the location of the Fawn Fire that took place near Redding from Sep 22-Oct 2: LINK

Hunt Hot Spring is 3h 39m northwest of Reno
Redding is 1h 15m southwest of Hunt Hot Spring

One part that stands out to me is that she contacted an ex to get directions to the Springs. I wonder if anyone's talked to him about where he was that day?

I ran across a TikTok that mentioned another vehicle ping; has anyone found that info on MSM yet?
 

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wnk said:
This case caught my eye because I'd just visited the Shasta-Trinity National Forest earlier this year (before the wildfires that were there this summer). We took the 89/I-5 loop around to see a bunch of waterfalls. It's an absolutely beautiful area.

Putting together a quick timeline:
(source for dates unless otherwise marked)
SEP 16 - Grandfather died
SEP 22 - Went to work as usual in Reno, NV
SEP 23 - [time?] Last Instagram pics posted from Hunt Hot Spring, CA
SEP 23 - 6:02pm vehicle spotted on street camera in Redding, CA (source)
SEP 23 - 9:03pm sent Spotify link to friend via text (source)*
SEP 27 - Scheduled to work; did not show up
OCT 2 - Possible sighting in Gardnerville, NV (though article indicates "none [of the sightings] has turned out to be Courtney")
OCT 9 - Missing persons TikTok posted

*Sunset in Big Bend, CA on Sep 23 was at 6:59PM. Full darkness would have been at 8:29PM. (source)

Weather at the time attached below (source)

Also attaching a map below showing Reno, Hunt Hot Spring, Redding, and the location of the Fawn Fire that took place near Redding from Sep 22-Oct 2: LINK

Hunt Hot Spring is 3h 39m northwest of Reno
Redding is 1h 15m southwest of Hunt Hot Spring

One part that stands out to me is that she contacted an ex to get directions to the Springs. I wonder if anyone's talked to him about where he was that day?

I ran across a TikTok that mentioned another vehicle ping; has anyone found that info on MSM yet?
Click to expand...



Last instagram post time is right now unconfirmed but speculation it was after her last Spotify text at 9:03pm.

I have been looking for Police to release that information.

I had said earlier (imo) you need two hands to post to instagram and frankly text, which made me think she was not in her car by that time - 9pm.

Her car was seen on street camera in Redding at 6:02 pm-
HAVE YOU SEEN ME? Missing 32-year-old woman last contacted September 23

It's my best guess she was at the Hot Springs in the late afternoon - The sun angle in her Instagram photo looks that way to me. She did have to drive from Reno to the Springs which is 3 hours...

Perhaps she drove to Redding for dinner? /hotel stay

Redding is 57 mile from the Hot Springs...I think if you drive that far after a day in the Hot Springs you are committed to that place...(imo)

What's driving me crazy is that the MSM is saying those last texts/calls were from in the forest.

But if you look at the map Shasta Trinity Forest does extend east of Redding -

Maybe she went to Redding, then headed to camp back in the forest area?

We don't have much to go on.

@Hair of the Dog raised some great questions....
 
MountainGal33 said:
Last instagram post time is right now unconfirmed but speculation it was after her last Spotify text at 9:03pm.

I have been looking for Police to release that information.

I had said earlier (imo) you need two hands to post to instagram and frankly text, which made me think she was not in her car by that time - 9pm.

Her car was seen on street camera in Redding at 6:02 pm-
HAVE YOU SEEN ME? Missing 32-year-old woman last contacted September 23

It's my best guess she was at the Hot Springs in the late afternoon - The sun angle in her Instagram photo looks that way to me. She did have to drive from Reno to the Springs which is 3 hours...

Perhaps she drove to Redding for dinner? /hotel stay

Redding is 57 mile from the Hot Springs...I think if you drive that far after a day in the Hot Springs you are committed to that place...(imo)

What's driving me crazy is that the MSM is saying those last texts/calls were from in the forest.

But if you look at the map Shasta Trinity Forest does extend east of Redding -

Maybe she went to Redding, then headed to camp back in the forest area?

We don't have much to go on.

@Hair of the Dog raised some great questions....
Click to expand...

If she was at the springs late afternoon and then in Redding at 6pm-ish, I agree with you that it's unlikely that she drove back out to the springs again. It's a long 57 miles of twisty mountain roads, that would take much longer than the expected 1.25 hours Google maps gives, especially in the dark...

But let's say that she did go back out towards the hot springs from Redding to set up camp. You can't camp at the springs legally, so she would have had to: 1) seek out a free spot or 2) camp at an established, paid campground

A big clue to me is that she asked her ex for directions to the springs, this tells me she was unfamiliar with the area and thus unfamiliar with free camps in the area, so probably unlikely to drive up a random forest service road to set up a free camp. However, there are a lot of established, paid campgrounds in the vicinity. Many of these are very close to the springs. For instance, Deadlun forest service campground is only about 15 minutes away from the springs.

It is certainly not out of the realm of possibility that she could have went to Redding to get a few days worth of supplies and then drove back in the direction of the springs, planning to camp in the area for a couple of days and use the springs some more

My boyfriend and I drove to town and back to a forest service campground last weekend and it was about the same distance, in the dark, on similar sketchy mountain roads in California...
We also got to this campground at 12am the first night, again driving for over an hour in the dark on mountain roads...
We actually drive on mountain roads in the dark rather frequently, often arriving in the wee hours of the morning

That all being said, if she did indeed drive back out to the springs at night she could have had an accident. California doesn't have guard rails on most highways and many people do go off the sides of mountain roads. There was an incident this year where a young couple went off in daylight in Southern California. They were found by a volunteer who had a drone. Locals said that they weren't the first ones to succumb to that particular curve.

*One really important factor that should not get lost is that there is no cell service once you get far enough out from Redding! MSM doesn't understand that most of rural Northern California has ZERO cell signal*
we carry a SOS/emergency beacon for this reason, even if we're just out car camping

All IMO, from experience living in and traveling often in Northern California
 
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On another note, it deeply bothers me that there have been no searches for Courtney that I'm aware of...
I understand that the distance between Redding and the hot springs is a large area to cover, but there have been no confirmed sightings of her elsewhere and it's almost been a month now since she went missing
 
branmuffin said:
I just read a story (sad) about a woman who jumped into a hot spring in Yellowstone Park to rescue her dog after it jumped in. She's in hospital with severe burns. The dog died. Could something like this have happened here? Border collies do like playing in water. Is this hot springs remote or too small to have those kinds of accidents? Apparently, the water can be 170 degree F.
Click to expand...
Those hot pools around Yellowstone have fences you have to climb over or under in order to get to them and signs everywhere warning of death due to temperatures reaching 237C, roughly 456F. The fragile crust around them is thin and can break, you walk through on a fenced raised boardwalk.
Some are also highly acidic, those mean instant death and your body completely dissolves in a few hours. It's too dangerous to pull you out if you fall into that, like this 23 year old.
Gruesome hot spring death highlights problems at Yellowstone

They are not recreational mineral hot springs with man made soaking pools. Hunt's source water is 170 degrees but they mix it in pools with cool water from the creek to regulate the temp.
The rule at all primitive hot springs is never go into the source pool.
She would know this, she worked at Patagonia and by all accounts had experience, and it's clearly marked with a warning sign.
ETA photos of Hunt.
Hunt Hot Springs - Kosk Creek | Northern California - Hot Springs Locator
Screenshot_2021-10-20-16-50-08-91.jpg
 
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kelsie said:
Login • Instagram - Patagonia's appeal on insta

Log In or Sign Up to View - appeal posted 17 hours ago to the Sky Alert Foundation
Hm, I didn't hear this part before:
There was a possible sighting on October 2nd, 2021 in Gardnerville, Nevada.
Click to expand...

Yes l heard about that one. And also a possible spotting in another campsite near Gardnerville called Buckeye Camp Ground - odd. But no word on if these were proven false.

She is still missing so l doubt they led anywhere.

At this point they need to be searching all the roadways / drones/ etc.

I have not heard of any search parties or anything else after searching for local news stations.

I attached the latest poster that is circulating the graphics are better -

Her mother is vocal on FB now. That’s good.
 

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MountainGal33 said:
Yes l heard about that one. And also a possible spotting in another campsite near Gardnerville called Buckeye Camp Ground - odd. But no word on if these were proven false.

She is still missing so l doubt they led anywhere.

At this point they need to be searching all the roadways / drones/ etc.

I have not heard of any search parties or anything else after searching for local news stations.

I attached the latest poster that is circulating the graphics are better -

Her mother is vocal on FB now. That’s good.
Click to expand...
If she went off the road in a heavily wooded area off a cliff or steep drop. There is a good chance that she won't be found for quite some time if ever. Drones wouldn't be able to see through the tree canopy
 
Has her ex boyfriend been located and questioned?
 
Her sister posted a new TikTok video today. I can’t post that link because there is a toddler in the video.

You can follow her original TikTok link above and see it.

Basically she says no new updates or she is still missing /car/dog and the vigil is on. She is worn out / has covid :( and l feel for the young lady.

I wish for the case to get some National coverage - it’s almost a month now.
 
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