PA PA - Karen Wells, 23, Carlisle, 12 April 1994

[Valiant]

RSBM

Or it had a faulty gas gauge, not a real unusual issue.

But it would be an odd issue in a newer rental car. Someone would have likely ran into the issue before and the car repaired as a rental company has a vested interest in knowing how much gas is in a car so they can bill cars returned less than full.

 

[cutter99]

Here’s the thing about mileage vs. the fuel gauge. Depending on what kind of driving you are doing, mileage will vary. Sitting and idling will cause mileage to vary. Highway driving vs. stop and go traffic will cause mileage to vary.

Schaefferstown had one gas station in 1994, a Hess station at the corner of Route 501 (Stiegel Pike) and Routes 419/897 (Heidelberg Pike). It is still there today, but now a Speedway.

The next closest gas stations would have been in Brickerville, about 6-7 miles south, or Myerstown, about 6-7 miles north. Both of those towns are right on Route 501, so they would be difficult to miss.

How the heck did she end up in Schaefferstown? It is not a direct way from the Carlisle area to north New Jersey, even if you have a terrible sense of direction. It is not “right off” the PA Turnpike or Route 78, which are your most direct routes to NJ. In 1994, Schaefferstown was either a one traffic light or two traffic light town. Not much there, other than a grocery store, Good’s Store (locally known as the Mennonite Mall), a pizza shop, restaurant, butcher shop and gas station.

Now... Schaefferstown sits about 8 miles outside of Lebanon city, which has had a reputation for high drug traffic for many years. And Schaefferstown also is about 19 miles north of Lancaster city, again known for high drug traffic. Was she helping to traffic drugs for someone? Were the drugs moving between a location in PA and a location in NJ.

 

[CCJD]

But it would be an odd issue in a newer rental car. Someone would have likely ran into the issue before and the car repaired as a rental company has a vested interest in knowing how much gas is in a car so they can bill cars returned less than full.

When I moved to PA from MA (coincidentally in 1994), I rented a U-Haul. Not as new as Karen's car, but a rental. And yes, the deal is/was that you pick it up with a full tank and drop it off with a full tank. We noticed before leaving the dealer in MA that the gauge read only 3/4 of a tank and had the employee note it on the paperwork. Before dropping it off in PA, we filled the tank literally blocks from the U-Haul dealer. Sure enough, it only showed 3/4 of a tank. The guy at the drop off site noticed immediately and was going to charge me until I showed him the paperwork and suggested he call the MA location to confirm. He didn't call and I didn't get charged for it.
The state on the side of the truck was Wyoming. Who knows how many trips that truck made with a wonky gauge and how many people, not paying attention, got charged for not having a full tank.

 

[dulldullmike]

Wow, dulldullmike, this was an absolutely wonderful write-up. Thanks for diving into this. I'm sure we will all anticipate your continued research. I first listened to this on The Trail Went Cold as well and it is a baffling case; there are so many parts that don't make sense and can't be confirmed. There's limited info online so I've had to rely on message boards like this one to get answers.

Thank you, though I wish I could go back and edit a few parts. I was trying to type as fast as possible and ended using Melissa's name instead of Karen's a few times, and a few other sporadic mistakes here and there. I hope I don't confuse anybody too much.

But at least now a lot of the info is out there to easily access, and I know what you mean, there is definitely limited info on the web about Ms. Wells. The Trail Went Cold is an excellent podcast, I agree. I gathered a lot of my info from there.

 

[dulldullmike]

Here’s the thing about mileage vs. the fuel gauge. Depending on what kind of driving you are doing, mileage will vary. Sitting and idling will cause mileage to vary. Highway driving vs. stop and go traffic will cause mileage to vary.

Schaefferstown had one gas station in 1994, a Hess station at the corner of Route 501 (Stiegel Pike) and Routes 419/897 (Heidelberg Pike). It is still there today, but now a Speedway.

The next closest gas stations would have been in Brickerville, about 6-7 miles south, or Myerstown, about 6-7 miles north. Both of those towns are right on Route 501, so they would be difficult to miss.

How the heck did she end up in Schaefferstown? It is not a direct way from the Carlisle area to north New Jersey, even if you have a terrible sense of direction. It is not “right off” the PA Turnpike or Route 78, which are your most direct routes to NJ. In 1994, Schaefferstown was either a one traffic light or two traffic light town. Not much there, other than a grocery store, Good’s Store (locally known as the Mennonite Mall), a pizza shop, restaurant, butcher shop and gas station.

Now... Schaefferstown sits about 8 miles outside of Lebanon city, which has had a reputation for high drug traffic for many years. And Schaefferstown also is about 19 miles north of Lancaster city, again known for high drug traffic. Was she helping to traffic drugs for someone? Were the drugs moving between a location in PA and a location in NJ.

Awesome info. I appreciate that, because I don't know the area at all, I'm a bit further east. I've always wondered why she ended up there as well. There is a 4-hour gap from her time in Schaefferstown to her phone call to Melissa while in Bernville. I really believe there was drug activity going on as well, and chances are it started somewhere within the area of those two towns. Something else about the case, and I got this saying from watching "Silence of the Lambs", but doesn't the location of where her car was found seem desperately random? I don't know, but I get that feeling. It just seems too random to be random.

 

[Sparky981]

Hello everyone. This case has some markings of being drug related as others has speculated. A cross country drive in a rental by a single mother to “help” a friend with something? That must have been some friend. Unfortunately while we have a record of phone calls we only have the friend’s version of what was discussed in them. I can see a scenario where Wells was being used to carry drugs or pick up drugs along the route. The call from Carlisle to Melissa indicates to me that there may have been a scheduled pickup/drop off
planned at the motel. Then Melissa drives to the motel when Wells does not show up. Why not call the police for a wellness check? Or call the motel management? Why drive all the way out there( with two men?) if your friend is merely late? For all they knew she could have been anywhere.
I suspect a possible drug ripoff and that Wells was taken by force from her room, leaving cigs, etc. Her rental car was then followed by another car and driven deep into the woods where Wells was disposed of. A faulty gas gauge resulted in the car stopping in the middle of the road while being taken elsewhere for disposal. The perps quickly left the car and got into a following car, fearing being seen by traffic as daylight was approaching.
Just speculation, but the extra miles on the car could have been a result of making side trips for pickups/drop offs. This Melissa is key to solving the case but it sounds like there is little interest by the police. Possibly because they know its a drug/mob related case.

 

[lmills23]

Does anyone know what time Denise called Melissa from Indianapolis. The most specific time I can find is "sometime on April 11th"
This is a big deal, if she called in the morning there is a lot more unaccounted for time. If she called in the evening, things start to make more sense (as much as they can in this case.)

I've put together a preliminary timeline of Denise's trip, in doing so there is a large chunk of time missing. Upwards of 10-11 hours or (600-700 miles)

April 10th:

2 pm: Drops off son at parents house
9:30pm: Picks up rental car and heads out

April 11th:

Sometime during the day: Denise calls Melissa from Indianapolis

April 12th:
12:50am: Mysterious phone call to Melissa from Middlesex Twp. (no one knows who from yet)
6:39 am: Denise called Melissa from Somerset, PA.
11:30 am: Motorist helped Denise in Scheafferstown, PA. Denise get gas (we don't know how much) and motorist gives Denise directions to head BACK to Haskell, OK.
11:39 am: Denise calls Melissa from Scheafferstown, PA.
3:34 pm: Denise calls Melissa from Bernville, PA.
5:27 pm: Denise calls Melissa (location unreported)
before 6pm: Denise checks into Pike Motel, Carlilse, PA.
5:59pm: Call to Denise's room from Melissa
6:06 pm: Call to Denise's room from Melissa
6:13 pm: Call to Denise's room from Melissa
6:59 pm: Call to Denise's room from Melissa
**Sometime during all of this is when Denise asks owner at front desk for matches and directions to McDonalds** LAST TIME DENISE IS SEEN ALIVE
8:05 pm: Denise calls Melissa (police wonder if this was even Denise calling or perpetrator)

April 13th:
Sometime between midnight and 1 am: Melissa shows up to hotel.

5:50am: Denise Rental car found.


From what we know, Denise left Tulsa, OK at 9:30pm April 10th. It is approx. a 9.5 hour drive from Tulsa, OK to Indianapolis. Lets add in an hour and half for bathroom/food/gas breaks we're looking at an 11 hour trip from Tulsa to Indianapolis. If she left at 9:30 she should have been in Indianapolis at 8:30am on April 11th. If Denise called Melissa at that point, Denise had plenty of time to get to Middlesex Twp and place a phone call to Melissa at 12:50am on April 12th. (which in turn complicates this case a whole lot more)

I know I'm missing something in this timeline. Everyone is so sure Denise didn't make that phone call at 12:50am April 12th, but to my account, she had more than enough time to get there and place it? How do we know that the 6:39am phone call to Melissa is the first time Denise arrived to PA?

Another thing that is brought up in the podcast...Denise only rented the hotel room for 2-3 hours to rest and wait for her friend. Since the distance between Bergen, NJ and Carlisle, PA is 3 hours, This tells me Denise expected Melissa to leave immediately to go to the hotel. Why did Melissa wait until 9-10pm to leave Bergen, NJ to head to the Pike Motel? (since she didn't show up until after midnight.)

I think I'm so intrigued by this case because I believe Denise was taken advantage of by someone she thought was her friend. Melissa definitely set her up. Not to say I think Denise is completely innocent. I think she had intentions of making money on this trip (illegally or whatever) but it ended up being a much more risky situation than she had expected. I believe Melissa knows what happened. Which is why she lied about who she showed up to the Motel with. I would LOOVEEE to talk to the guys who came to the Motel with Melissa.

For those that think this is drug trafficking, I see how you came to that conclusion but I'm just curious, do you think she's trafficking drugs around PA? or do you think they wanted her to take drugs back to Haskell? Obviously, there is no way to know, just curious about thoughts on this.

 

[dulldullmike]

Hello everyone. This case has some markings of being drug related as others has speculated. A cross country drive in a rental by a single mother to “help” a friend with something? That must have been some friend. Unfortunately while we have a record of phone calls we only have the friend’s version of what was discussed in them. I can see a scenario where Wells was being used to carry drugs or pick up drugs along the route. The call from Carlisle to Melissa indicates to me that there may have been a scheduled pickup/drop off
planned at the motel. Then Melissa drives to the motel when Wells does not show up. Why not call the police for a wellness check? Or call the motel management? Why drive all the way out there( with two men?) if your friend is merely late? For all they knew she could have been anywhere.
I suspect a possible drug ripoff and that Wells was taken by force from her room, leaving cigs, etc. Her rental car was then followed by another car and driven deep into the woods where Wells was disposed of. A faulty gas gauge resulted in the car stopping in the middle of the road while being taken elsewhere for disposal. The perps quickly left the car and got into a following car, fearing being seen by traffic as daylight was approaching.
Just speculation, but the extra miles on the car could have been a result of making side trips for pickups/drop offs. This Melissa is key to solving the case but it sounds like there is little interest by the police. Possibly because they know its a drug/mob related case.

That is a very good explanation. I agree that this scenario is most likely what happened. It would be interesting to know where they were taking the car, considering the area/direction they were travelling towards. Like I said before, a very out of the way place with limited/No gas stations around. Almost like they knew the area they were heading to, which goes into that whole "cocaine ring" I also spoke of. Man, this is so head spinning.

 

[dulldullmike]

Does anyone know what time Denise called Melissa from Indianapolis. The most specific time I can find is "sometime on April 11th"
This is a big deal, if she called in the morning there is a lot more unaccounted for time. If she called in the evening, things start to make more sense (as much as they can in this case.)

I've put together a preliminary timeline of Denise's trip, in doing so there is a large chunk of time missing. Upwards of 10-11 hours or (600-700 miles)

April 10th:

2 pm: Drops off son at parents house
9:30pm: Picks up rental car and heads out

April 11th:

Sometime during the day: Denise calls Melissa from Indianapolis

April 12th:
12:50am: Mysterious phone call to Melissa from Middlesex Twp. (no one knows who from yet)
6:39 am: Denise called Melissa from Somerset, PA.
11:30 am: Motorist helped Denise in Scheafferstown, PA. Denise get gas (we don't know how much) and motorist gives Denise directions to head BACK to Haskell, OK.
11:39 am: Denise calls Melissa from Scheafferstown, PA.
3:34 pm: Denise calls Melissa from Bernville, PA.
5:27 pm: Denise calls Melissa (location unreported)
before 6pm: Denise checks into Pike Motel, Carlilse, PA.
5:59pm: Call to Denise's room from Melissa
6:06 pm: Call to Denise's room from Melissa
6:13 pm: Call to Denise's room from Melissa
6:59 pm: Call to Denise's room from Melissa
**Sometime during all of this is when Denise asks owner at front desk for matches and directions to McDonalds** LAST TIME DENISE IS SEEN ALIVE
8:05 pm: Denise calls Melissa (police wonder if this was even Denise calling or perpetrator)

April 13th:
Sometime between midnight and 1 am: Melissa shows up to hotel.

5:50am: Denise Rental car found.


From what we know, Denise left Tulsa, OK at 9:30pm April 10th. It is approx. a 9.5 hour drive from Tulsa, OK to Indianapolis. Lets add in an hour and half for bathroom/food/gas breaks we're looking at an 11 hour trip from Tulsa to Indianapolis. If she left at 9:30 she should have been in Indianapolis at 8:30am on April 11th. If Denise called Melissa at that point, Denise had plenty of time to get to Middlesex Twp and place a phone call to Melissa at 12:50am on April 12th. (which in turn complicates this case a whole lot more)

I know I'm missing something in this timeline. Everyone is so sure Denise didn't make that phone call at 12:50am April 12th, but to my account, she had more than enough time to get there and place it? How do we know that the 6:39am phone call to Melissa is the first time Denise arrived to PA?

Another thing that is brought up in the podcast...Denise only rented the hotel room for 2-3 hours to rest and wait for her friend. Since the distance between Bergen, NJ and Carlisle, PA is 3 hours, This tells me Denise expected Melissa to leave immediately to go to the hotel. Why did Melissa wait until 9-10pm to leave Bergen, NJ to head to the Pike Motel? (since she didn't show up until after midnight.)

I think I'm so intrigued by this case because I believe Denise was taken advantage of by someone she thought was her friend. Melissa definitely set her up. Not to say I think Denise is completely innocent. I think she had intentions of making money on this trip (illegally or whatever) but it ended up being a much more risky situation than she had expected. I believe Melissa knows what happened. Which is why she lied about who she showed up to the Motel with. I would LOOVEEE to talk to the guys who came to the Motel with Melissa.

For those that think this is drug trafficking, I see how you came to that conclusion but I'm just curious, do you think she's trafficking drugs around PA? or do you think they wanted her to take drugs back to Haskell? Obviously, there is no way to know, just curious about thoughts on this.

Good question, you know, the thought never occurred to me that Denise could have already been heading back to Oklahoma with a trunk of drugs at that point. She did tell the man who helped her with gas that she was heading back to Oklahoma. She possibly had cash from somebody in OK and was going to NJ/Melissa to pick it up. She picked it up and then was heading back, Melissa during a phone call afterwards, told her to stop in Carlisle for whatever reason, and then at some point she was killed for the drugs in her possession and the money already in Melissa's hands, it was a win-win. What was she doing for the period of time between Schaeffertown and Bernville? Such a long period of time between two close towns. Totally speculation on my end, and its helpful to try and understand the possible scenarios.

You would wonder though, if Denise had drug money, and it was enough money evidently to cost her her life, wouldn't you think somebody would want their money back, and since Melissa's name was written all over this, that she might have somebody who put two and two together, wanting financial restitution or at least some answers? This case continues to blow my mind when you think of the possibilities.

 

[mlhenn]

Karen Denise Wells – The Charley Project

Last updated July 7, 2021; details of disappearance updated.


Details of Disappearance
Wells was on a trip from Haskell, Oklahoma to visit a friend in Bergen, New Jersey when she disappeared in April 1994. She stopped at the Pike Motel in the 1100 block of Harrisburg Pike in Carlisle, Pennsylvania on April 12 and called her friend from there at 7:00 p.m. She said she was going to eat at a McDonald's restaurant, then would go to her motel room to take a nap.

The friend offered to meet her at the motel and said she would be there by around midnight. After speaking to her friend, at 8:00 p.m., Wells went to the front desk of the motel and asked the staff for directions to the nearest McDonald's. They saw her leave and get into her rental vehicle, a white 1993 Plymouth Acclaim with Oklahoma license plates.

This is the last time anyone saw Wells. Shortly after midnight on April 13, her friend went to the motel to meet her as planned, but there was no answer when she knocked on the door of her room. The friend summoned a clerk, they went into the room and the clerk let her in with the master key.

Wells wasn't in the room, and all her belongings were there, including her room key. Her suitcase was sitting open on the bed and some of her clothes were lying next to it, and there was a magazine and a pack of cigarettes on the bedside table, but the bed itself didn't appear to have been slept in and there was no sign of Wells.

At 5:30 a.m. that same day, Wells's rental car was found abandoned in a rural area on Route 274, in Perry County, Pennsylvania, near Tuscarora State Park. This was 35 miles from the motel. It appeared to have stopped in its tracks in the westbound lane. The driver's and passenger side doors were wide open, the vehicle was out of gas, the hazard lights were switched on and the battery was dead. Some empty soda bottles, a pair of shoes, maps and some trash from a Hardee's fast food meal, including French fries, were inside the car.

There was a small amount of marijuana in the car, as well as other unspecified "indications of criminal activity". Wells's change purse, containing a small amount of cash, was in a nearby ditch. Authorities checked the odometer on the car and discovered it had been driven 600 to 700 miles that couldn't be accounted for. The car itself was mud-splattered and scratched, suggesting someone had driven it off-road. Photos of the car are posted with this case summary.

Around Thanksgiving in 1994, the wife of Wells's married boyfriend claimed she had heard from her. Wells allegedly called the woman and said she had gotten married and wouldn't be coming home. This story hasn't been confirmed, and police don't believe Wells actually made the telephone call.

Wells has a prior criminal conviction for forgery in South Dakota. She was unemployed and the single parent of a baby son in 1994. Her mother stated she was handling her life well and loved her child, who was subsequently raised by his grandparents.

It's uncharacteristic of Wells to leave without warning. Her family has had her declared legally dead. Police have not named any suspects in her case, but stated they believed some of the people they interviewed knew more than they disclosed. Foul play is suspected in her disappearance, which remains unsolved.

 

[MadMcGoo]

This is a puzzling disappearance.

 

[Savemecastiel]

Bump

 

[SimplyCass]

Denise Wells - Google My Maps

So, as I've done for a few other cases here, I created a Google Map of this case, with labeled routes, landmarks, etc. even the boundaries of Middlesex Township, where there was a mysterious phone call on 4/12/94 at 12:50 a.m.

Corrections and suggested edits are welcome (especially corrections, please, I hope I haven't made any serious errors).

Based on the posts by @dulldullmike, I believe the exact coordinates of where the car was found are as follows: 40.27186, -77.64091

Google Maps plots a distance of 37 miles from Pike Motel to the place where the car was found; it's around 25 miles "as the crow flies" (aka the shortest distance but not a driving route). 37 miles will take around 54 minutes - that's how remote and twisty and turny the road is (not like an Interstate highway that you can go 60 mph, in other words).

Just doing the StreetView drive-through was low-key unsettling. It is really quite remote and isolated, and probably even more so in 1994.

 

[dulldullmike]

Denise Wells - Google My Maps

So, as I've done for a few other cases here, I created a Google Map of this case, with labeled routes, landmarks, etc. even the boundaries of Middlesex Township, where there was a mysterious phone call on 4/12/94 at 12:50 a.m.

Corrections and suggested edits are welcome (especially corrections, please, I hope I haven't made any serious errors).

Based on the posts by @dulldullmike, I believe the exact coordinates of where the car was found are as follows: 40.27186, -77.64091

Google Maps plots a distance of 37 miles from Pike Motel to the place where the car was found; it's around 25 miles "as the crow flies" (aka the shortest distance but not a driving route). 37 miles will take around 54 minutes - that's how remote and twisty and turny the road is (not like an Interstate highway that you can go 60 mph, in other words).

Just doing the StreetView drive-through was low-key unsettling. It is really quite remote and isolated, and probably even more so in 1994.

It is definitely "in the middle of nowhere" as far as location goes. The more I think about it, the more I believe this was someone local to the area trying to hide/destroy the car, and that they were assisted by another. They may have thought they had enough gas to make it to wherever it was that they were going, but the faulty fuel gauge fooled them. Remember what I said about the local cocaine ring that supposedly ran around that area? I think Melissa may have been the reason, and that it was something involving her connections to drugs. This is all my opinion, of course.

 

[vermontaigne]

I read today that the remains of a woman found in Sugarloaf Township PA in December of 1994 have been submitted for DNA analysis. That's 8 months after Denise disappeared, and the remains were thought to have been at the site for less than 2 years. The only thing that really pushes against the possibility is that the skeleton shows signs of knee and back osteoarthritis, and the estimate is 34-47 years old at time of death. Otherwise, tests suggest that this person may have lived in the Southeast or Texas prior to having ended up there, and also probably had a child.

The map of Carlisle to Sugarloaf Twnshp to New Germantown describes a large arc that ends up pretty close to Carlisle:



So, that would account for some of the mileage and the strange location of the vehicle, if she were taken for a ride, killed and dumped, and then her car abandoned on the way back. Possibly it ran out of gas because the drivers didn't want anyone identifying an OK-tagged vehicle having stopped for gas.

So, let's say that her stripper pal who showed up looking for her, according to some accounts with two guys from the club, really did receive a call from Carlisle from a number other than hers prior to her showing up there. There's a possibility that it's a sting that's been set-up, and that she needs to make a show for the two club guys of freaking out when their drugs have disappeared, when they have possibly fronted the cash. Her confederates kill Denise, dump her and possibly the drugs, run out of gas in New Germantown and have to get a ride to Carlisle to get their car. They then return to the dump site, pick up the drugs, and they're on I-80. All speculative, but possible.

 

[CCJD]

I read today that the remains of a woman found in Sugarloaf Township PA in December of 1994 have been submitted for DNA analysis. That's 8 months after Denise disappeared, and the remains were thought to have been at the site for less than 2 years.

RSBM

Sugarloaf JD was missing 10 teeth. Front 2 post mortem so 8 prior to death. I don't see anything in Karen's photos indicating lost teeth, and she's got a wide smile but dentals for both Karen & Sugarloaf would make for an easy rule-out.

Both have DNA available. Sugarloaf has had DNA available for a good 10 years or more. (see attached pdf - for size) and the pertinent jpg snippet from that article in the Standard-Speaker dated July 14, 2010. With both having DNA, I'd think that would be an automatic rule out, which would not show up on the NamUs list.

Link to article (subscription required)
14 Jul 2010, A2 - Standard-Speaker at Newspapers.com

 

[chaddylex]

The Path Went Chilly Podcast discussed Karen's disappearance
https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aH...9hcGkuc3ByZWFrZXIuY29tL2VwaXNvZGUvNDc5ODk3OTQ

 

[JMT1008]

Yesterday I took a trip out to Tuscarora state forest. Coincidentally, google maps took me past the Pike Motel as one of several theoretical routes that led to Karen's car being on 274. It is NOT a quick drive from Carlisle.

Based on the old news paper photo of the car, I believe I found the general area where her car was abandoned. The leaning telephone poles are still there, though the hillside on the left is less brushy than it was in 1994. If I have the right place, it is west of Good Lane (Good Road?) on 274.

A year or more ago, there was a CBS 21 report on Karen's disappearance. The State Police Trooper in charge of her case said "I wish we had searched more of those trails, back then." (paraphrasing). Anyone looking for a clandestine grave now would have their work cut out for them. Beyond the hiking trails, there are over 100 miles of snow mobile trails, and administrative dirt roads in the Forest. Where do you even begin?

To get a feel for what kind of needle in a haystack task that would be, I went up Briner Rd (east on 274 from where her car was abandoned) and hiked around. (Maybe with a metal detector in hand, but don't tell PADCNR that!). If she were buried in the forest, even limiting the search to places within short walking distance of where her rental car could have been driven in the muddy April darkness, she'll never be found. Not unless someone says something.

That being said.... since I live only 40 miles away, I'm game to poke around again. Blindly, sure, but at least someone is out there looking.

 

[cutter99]

A cadaver dog might be a good place to begin. I would think that looking closer to the location the car was found might yield more.

How far could her body have been moved from the location of the car? Could she have easily been buried? What type of wildlife could have disturbed remains?

But wasn’t the car found muddy and dirty? Any chance it had been taken off road?

 

[JMT1008]

A cadaver dog might be a good place to begin. I would think that looking closer to the location the car was found might yield more.

How far could her body have been moved from the location of the car? Could she have easily been buried? What type of wildlife could have disturbed remains?

But wasn’t the car found muddy and dirty? Any chance it had been taken off road?

I'd say it's extremely likely the car was taken down one of the dirt roads, or snow mobile trails. Probably not terribly far from a main road. In fact, the snow mobile trails/access roads, have gates several yards into them. So the car may have only been driven that far onto one of the "off-road" roads. The question is, was she carried, or forced to walk from there?

If off road in that forest, that time of year, after dark, it would be very unlikely that anyone would encounter a passerby. So, whomever took her there could be confident that they had the luxury of time.

In my little bit of exploring, I found some places to have soft soil for digging, and other places to be rather rocky. But rocks aplenty if she were to have been covered.- In fact, that would probably be the fastest way to conceal a body out there.

All sorts of wild life could have participated in post-mortem activities.

It's a vast stretch of nothing out there.