Found Deceased Spain - Cole Henderson, 27, an American, last known location Torla-Ordesa nr Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park, Pyrenees, 9 July 2025.

[StillDiggin]

There are concerns for Cole who was last heard from 9 July 2PM, when he texted he was starting a solo hike. His phone last pinged in Torla and hasn’t been heard from since. He missed his return flight on July 13.
A family appeal

Missing in Spain – Please Share

My husband's nephew, Cole Henderson, a 27-year-old American, has gone missing while hiking in the Pyrenees Mountains. His last known location was Torla-Ordesa, near Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park. He was last heard from on July 9 around 14:00, when he texted that he was starting a solo hike. His phone last pinged in Torla, and he hasn’t been heard from since. He missed his return flight on July 13.
We believe he may have entered the park from the Torla side and was carrying the orange backpack in the photo. Search efforts are underway, but we’re desperate to spread the word for any information that may lead us to him.
If you or someone you know is in the area—or recently hiked near Ordesa—please share this or reach out with any info. Even the smallest detail could help.
Please contact me directly with any information. Thank you.
A article in Spanish

La Guardia Civil inicia la búsqueda de un senderista estadounidense desaparecido en Ordesa

Un allegado ha dado la voz de alarma tras perder el contacto el 9 de julio, cuando recibió un último mensaje en el que informaba que había dejado el coche en Torla

www.diariodelaltoaragon.es

 

[GraceG]

"Authorities found Henderson’s car in Torla, a town to the west of the national park, said the Guardia Civil.

(Henderson's friend) Senoff believes he may have been attempting to climb Monte Perdido, the third-highest peak in the Pyrenees, standing at 11,007 feet (3,355 meters).

Social media footage shows the normal route from Torla, where Henderson’s car was parked, still covered in snow in early July."

https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/16/europe/cole-henderson-missing-hiker-spain-intl

I'm hoping the location of the car may help narrow down the search area.

 

[RedHaus]

Sadly this reminds me of the Esther Dingley case, the British woman who vanished in the Pyrenees on the Spain border with France. It did not end well. But many of us here frantically tried to help from afar. It was my first deep dive on Websleuths.

I sure hope this ends well for Cole and his family.

 

[RedHaus]

"Authorities found Henderson’s car in Torla, a town to the west of the national park, said the Guardia Civil.

(Henderson's friend) Senoff believes he may have been attempting to climb Monte Perdido, the third-highest peak in the Pyrenees, standing at 11,007 feet (3,355 meters).

Social media footage shows the normal route from Torla, where Henderson’s car was parked, still covered in snow in early July."

https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/16/europe/cole-henderson-missing-hiker-spain-intl

I'm hoping the location of the car may help narrow down the search area.

This caught my eye from the CNN article:

"The route is rated as “Peu Difficile” (PD), meaning “somewhat difficult” by the climbing community. While PD routes are often climbed without ropes, they might involve steep sections of climbing, or crevassed glaciers, and often require specialized equipment, such as ice axes or crampons."

Of course we don't know yet what hiking or mountaineering equipment CH had, nor do we know yet what his experience level is.

 

[RedHaus]

Here are two helpful YT videos posted by climbers hiking up Monte Perdido.

1. ~18min., August 2021, from Spain side. Beautiful but a "hard hike".

2. ~13 min., August 2023, from France side into Spain. Beautiful but very rugged.

 

[StillDiggin]

American hiker missing in rugged Spanish mountains for a week: 'A kind and curious soul'

Cole Henderson was last heard from on July 9, when he texted a friend that he was about to go on a solo hike in Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park.

www.usatoday.com

 

[Dotta]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1945989794015682998

 

[RedHaus]

American hiker missing in rugged Spanish mountains for a week: 'A kind and curious soul'

Cole Henderson was last heard from on July 9, when he texted a friend that he was about to go on a solo hike in Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park.

www.usatoday.com

These bits caught my eye.

"Henderson parked his car in Torla, Spain, before he was to embark on a long hike from there, through the Ordesa Valley, to a mountain hut known as Refugio de Pineta, where friends believe he was going to catch a ride back to his car."

1. Sounds like he did not aim to climb the summit of Monte Perdido. Good! Unless he did but was not able to notify anyone about his change in plans.

2. Certainly SARs has thoroughly checked the mountain hut for signs of CH's stay (sign-in log?) or signs of FP.

3. How would he catch a ride back to his car? Hitchhike? Meet a friend? Bus? I hope LE checks CCTV on that route or bus ticket purchases, if applicable.

IMO.

 

[Cedars]

These bits caught my eye.

"Henderson parked his car in Torla, Spain, before he was to embark on a long hike from there, through the Ordesa Valley, to a mountain hut known as Refugio de Pineta, where friends believe he was going to catch a ride back to his car."

This is a description of the hike from Torla to the hut: In addition to being very long with steep up and downs, it seems to involve crossing a potentially deep glacial stream without a bridge.

Day 9 - Torla to Refugio de Pineta

26km, 2100 metres of ascent After staying up late last night to watch the World Cup Final, I didn't wake up until about 8.30am, so this wa...

gr11blog.blogspot.com

 

[starlightstarbright]

What I can’t shake is that he was starting off on a long hike at 2pm.

It sounds like he wasn’t necessarily planning to summit, which is good, because typically you would expect to start early in the day to be at the highest elevation at midday and to return before nightfall.

But it’s still a bit of an odd time to start off. Hot at lower elevations and only so much day left. It’s a long old way to go so he would have been breaking it into multiple days because he would not have made it to Refugio de Pineta in one day leaving at 2pm.

Also I had pictured the refugio or ‘mountain hut’ as what we would describe as a ‘bothy’ just a simple remote shelter. But it’s like a proper nice hostel. I can see why he expected to get a ride from there. If they don’t offer it as a service to walkers, I assume they would arrange a taxi. I know the albergues I have stayed at in Spain have been very helpful like that. From their tripadvisor:

 

[Hexe]

What I can’t shake is that he was starting off on a long hike at 2pm.

Oh boy, not good. 2 pm is way too late to hit the trail. Did he even have a tent with him?

 

[ZaZara]

Here is a description of the hike from Torla to Refugio de Pineta via the GR11.
This is day hike, and a long one. If Cole Henderson took this route he was far too late in the day to make it to the Refugio.

It is allowed to camp for the night in the Parque de Ordesa, albeit under strict regulations.

If Cole did reach the Refugio de Pineta he would have been obliged by law to register and show his passport, so it will be easy for LE to find out if he managed arrive there.

 

[starlightstarbright]

Here is a description of the hike from Torla to Refugio de Pineta via the GR11.
This is day hike, and a long one. If Cole Henderson took this route he was far too late in the day to make it to the Refugio.

It is allowed to camp for the night in the Parque de Ordesa, albeit under strict regulations.

If Cole did reach the Refugio de Pineta he would have been obliged by law to register and show his passport, so it will be easy for LE to find out if he managed arrive there.

Oof, reading this description makes me feel even more worried. It’s a 26km route and in the blog above, they set off after 8:30am from Torla and don’t arrive at the Refugio until just after 10pm (and nearly get swept away in the river). 26km is not impossible to do in a day, though very tough with these ascents and descents. But if he was really attempting to do it in one day, as an experienced hiker, he would know there’s no way he could make it leaving at 2pm. I wonder if he was really setting off at that time, or if that’s just when he hit an elevation where he phone sent the message.

@StillDiggin I’m sorry to hear Cole is your husband’s nephew. How sure is it that this is the route he took? Did he plan to camp and any idea where or what sort of tent/gear? Was he usually someone who planned a route and stuck to it? Or is there a chance he might have gone a different route?

 

[ZaZara]

Cole Henderson allegedly took another route than the GR11:

La búsqueda del americano en Ordesa se refuerza con unidades de Navarra y Cataluña


The search for the American in Ordesa is reinforced with units from Navarre and Catalonia.

The Guardia Civil continues to track the route to Monte Perdido that the missing young man had planned to take.

By land and by air, with drones and dogs. The Guardia Civil will continue searching this weekend in the Ordesa and Monte Perdido National Park for the 27-year-old Cole Henderson from the United States, who disappeared 10 days ago in the Pyrenees. The search is focused on the route he is believed to have followed: from the Ordesa Pradera to the Góriz refuge, to climb to the summit of Monte Perdido and then cross to the Pineta valley.


BBM

 

[Glamis Girl]

This map was sent to a friend of Cole's before he headed out. With the route to Pineta being 2 colors, I'm thinking he planned to do the journey in 2 parts, possibly staying at the Refugio Goriz overnight.

A reddit post from a few days ago was started by someone who seems to have a connection with Cole. The poster said they contacted Refugio Goriz and they had not seen Cole, so I wonder if he didn't make it and maybe fell before reaching the refuge? The hiking trail description for that section says that 1/2 the route, though wide, is along a steep drop-off. Maybe he felt ok leaving at 2 pm because the average time to that refuge is about 3.5-4 hours.

Or, maybe he continued on passing Goriz and had a fall on his way to the summit? Or maybe he camped instead of staying at the refuge?

So many possibilities and I hope they find him soon.

 

[Cedars]

In any event, whatever he planned, he's not been found along any route/campground etc (this would be peak hiking season), so something else happened that he didn't intend. Could have gotten lost and wandered far, but the biggest risk, by far, in any mountainous environment is gravity.

JMO

 

[Lucy6226]

Hoping he has just got lost and they find him soon

 

[ZaZara]

Sin rastro del joven estadounidense desaparecido en Ordesa

The Guardia Civil has been searching for Cole Henderson, 27, for seven days this Sunday.


The search for the young American, Cole Henderson, who has been missing in Ordesa since the Guardia Civil was alerted on 14 July, continued on Saturday without positive results, according to the Huesca Command.

All this, despite the fact that the search for the young man has been intensified since Friday due to the forecast rainfall for this Saturday. A command post and coordination point for the resources deployed was installed in the sports pavilion in the town of Torla on Thursday.

The area has been searched by members of the Mountain Rescue and Intervention Group (Greim) of the Guardia Civil of Aragon, Navarra and Catalonia, the helicopter of the Greim of Benasque, the Pegaso team of the Command of Teruel with drones and search dogs.

The search area during these days has focused on the route between the Ordesa Meadow, the Góriz Refuge, Monte Perdido and Pineta, according to the information provided by friends and relatives to the search teams coordinated by the Guardia Civil.

Although these areas have been searched assiduously, the Guardia Civil has extended the search perimeter with the aim of locating the young American who was walking the route alone. In case of any clues or leads, it is important to call the Guardia Civil on 062 or the 112 emergency telephone number.

BBM

 

[RedHaus]

Thank you for this update @ZaZara .

I wonder if SAR have any hint yet as to whether CH was on the trail he intended or some semblance of confirmation as to how far he had trekked - hiker witnesses, any belongings, scent picked up by dogs?

 

[ZaZara]

Thank you for this update @ZaZara .

I wonder if SAR have any hint yet as to whether CH was on the trail he intended or some semblance of confirmation as to how far he had trekked - hiker witnesses, any belongings, scent picked up by dogs?

He had already been missing for 5 days before the report was made to LE.
If something had happened to him on or near the trail, wouldn't other hikers have noticed something?
You mentioned the disappearance of Esther Dingley earlier. That happened at the end of November when there are few hikers around (and the country was in lockdown due to COVID). CH disappeared in midsummer, during the holiday season. Lots of hikers in the National Parks. Many people may have seen him, if he was there ~ but he may not have stood out as much as ED did in an empty landscape.