Mexico Mexico - Kat Hammontre, 68, US citizen, Baja California, 11 April 2019

[slowpoke]

Gee, I’ve posted on Kat’s thread, and now I’ve been following Barbara Thomas’ thread. These two women remind me of each other:

Just about the same age (Kat 68, Barbara 69),
Both were hiking in the desert (Kat at Diablo Canyon in Baja, Barbara in the Mojave National Preserve), and
Both seemed to just inexplicably vanish despite other(s) nearby.

And so far, neither have been found...

 

[TatianaBarbie]

Gee, I’ve posted on Kat’s thread, and now I’ve been following Barbara Thomas’ thread. These two women remind me of each other:

Just about the same age (Kat 68, Barbara 69),
Both were hiking in the desert (Kat at Diablo Canyon in Baja, Barbara in the Mojave National Preserve), and
Both seemed to just inexplicably vanish despite other(s) nearby.

And so far, neither have been found...

Very interesting comparison of the two women, with so much in common.

 

[dalsglen]

Very interesting comparison of the two women, with so much in common.

Except this husbands looking and making noise. Has some interesting posts on his fb page, regarding ransom. Hmm

 

[10ofRods]

I don't think she could execute a plan to leave her husband and friends from that location, 33 miles from the nearest road, with no cell service. She had only one way out of the arroyo and that was right past where her husband was sitting, in the car.

She was not able to walk far. The group was gone for about 1.5 hours before going back to pick her up, they assumed she'd walked the 15 minutes to the car. Update says that the trail is fairly clear, but can be confusing when walking out (whereas walking in is easier?)

She was supposed to sit in one place for that 1.5 hour (and it was pretty warm). It looks like there would be no water near where she was. No one seems to say what she had with her or whether she had water.

It's a very sad story, and while the group claims they didn't "abandon" her, and that she obviously wandered off on her own, in fact, she was left alone by the side of the trail by a group that went on to execute its own plan of ascending a steep trail to a waterfall. Sadly, this kind of story is so often associated with a missing (and now presumed dead) hiker.

 

[Linskid]

Bump

 

[meanmaryjean]

Nothing?

 

[Seajay]

This case IS a lot like Barbara Thomas’ case.wow.

I am totally not understanding why she was on this hike at all. I am about the same age, with about the same health issues, and I have mobility problems with bad knees, which would parallel her broken toes and bruised foot. And I have to say for me, it would be nuts for me to even think I could attempt a hike. She had to know she wouldn’t make it far. She had to know she’d be left to wait for them is she couldn’t walk far. So why would she do it? It’s hot, she’d have to have a water source and be willing to wait 1.5 hours.

Maybe she overheated or got heat exhaustion and thought she was walking back to an air conditioned care where her husband awaited and got twisted around?

 

[kelsie]

Bump for Kat. No news I can find.

 

[HannahHistory]

Bump for Kat. I hope she is found soon. Husband seems to have moved on (love life wise) already.

 

[Linskid]

Bump

 

[DustysMom]

The Vanished podcast just released an episode about Kat’s disappearance. iMO a great listen.

 

[DustysMom]

This case IS a lot like Barbara Thomas’ case.wow.

I am totally not understanding why she was on this hike at all. I am about the same age, with about the same health issues, and I have mobility problems with bad knees, which would parallel her broken toes and bruised foot. And I have to say for me, it would be nuts for me to even think I could attempt a hike. She had to know she wouldn’t make it far. She had to know she’d be left to wait for them is she couldn’t walk far. So why would she do it? It’s hot, she’d have to have a water source and be willing to wait 1.5 hours.

Maybe she overheated or got heat exhaustion and thought she was walking back to an air conditioned care where her husband awaited and got twisted around?

From the recently released podcast, it sounds like she was to wait 50 minutes for the group to ascent to the waterfall and come back. STILL, to be out there without any water (apparently she had one beer with her) and with a foot injury is mind boggling. I agree that she likely was trying to walk back to her husband and the vehicles and got lost. Somewhere on this thread it was mentioned that it was tricky to walk DOWN from where she was.

 

[IDK]

I just finished listening to the podcast too.

Many interesting details and one that stood out to me, at least. Kat had apparently not had Tootsie very long and there had been obedience issues. Her husband , Warren, had been taking Tootsie to obedience classes every Saturday.

Apparently Tootsie was not on a leash during the hike and it’s questionable if she was even wearing a collar. Kat had a history of alcoholism and had recently started drinking again. She had a can of Dos Equis with her on the trail.

From the one picture I saw I couldn’t tell the size of Tootsie though fairly good sized. Was she a German Shepherd?

I wonder if the dog got bored waiting and ran off trail. Kat may have gone looking for her and fell becoming injured. I know there were extensive searches but apparently the vegetation was lush and covered the ground. Someone in the group had a drone that they flew for a short while but it was impossible to see the ground. It’s hard to imagine not finding the dog or Kat, but possible.

Very sad and I hope the podcast will bring more attention to Kat’s disappearance.

EPISODE 470: Katherine Hammontre Sundquist — The Vanished Podcast

In April 2019, Katherine Hammontre Sundquist embarked on a hike with friends and her beloved dog, Tootsie, in a national park near San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico. Their destination was a picturesque waterfall. Before the hike, Katherine had injured her foot, and not long after beginning the tre

www.thevanishedpodcast.com