Missing hiker (Monica Reza)

[Sean]

It has been decided by members not to publish certain information. That policy was stated most recently in Matthew's comment regarding the sign up for the hike. The comment on Reddit that I referenced would be in violation of that policy. Therefore, I decided not to link it.

I'm an admin here, and there is no policy against publishing "certain information." You are free to do what you like, especially with information relevant to this high-profile, ongoing mystery. I, or another admin, will let you know if you cross a line. But saying there's relevant shit on Reddit and not providing a link or quote, well, that's completely useless to me. I'm not going to spend time digging through the garbage piles on Reddit hunting for this alleged nugget. I don't like Reddit. That's why I'm here instead. Maybe you could PM me the link and quote, then I can post it myself.

[coloradohiker]

There were 9 people on the hike, not 3. Find it yourself. I'm out.

[SideQuestHiker]

The Reddit comment in question is at the bottom of the following r/socalhiking post:

https://www.reddit.com/r/socalhiking/s/3v1s0Hy20O

[Sean]

The Reddit comment in question is at the bottom of the following r/socalhiking post:

https://www.reddit.com/r/socalhiking/s/3v1s0Hy20O

Okay, here's the first part of the Reddit post:

I would look into Teralyn Dang. Why did she all of a sudden cancel the same hiking event Monica went to? Also, there were supposed to be 13 attendees, but only 9 went, including Monica. Tera has 3 guests coming along and cancelled, which is why there were 9 people on that same hiking trip. Why did the Media only mention Ashwin and Anjali when there were 9 people in total?

I'll give the Redditors points for actually naming the people they talk about. I hope they take their information and questions to the police. I, for one, don't know how many people were on the hike. I wasn't there, and I certainly wouldn't go by the Meetup RSVPs. If there's something suspicious about the attendees, the police are probably investigating it, and they're not going to blab to the world every little lead they follow, like the gossip-mongers here and elsewhere. Besides, we all know it was the Squatch monster.

[RH]

Check out the comment on Reddit posted an hour ago by PiaTequila...

Quote and link or it doesn't exist. Thanks.

It has been decided by members not to publish certain information. That policy was stated most recently in Matthew's comment regarding the sign up for the hike. The comment on Reddit that I referenced would be in violation of that policy. Therefore, I decided not to link it. However, if the comment on Reddit is true, and I don't know whether it's true or not, it would challenge almost everything that's been said or written about this case since June 22, 2025.

My brain hurts reading all the drivel on Reddit. People that never searched for her or anyone else in the wild, people who have never hiked that area, and/or people who are only thinking one way (trying to force things to fit their narrative). I'm open to sinister narratives regarding the case but you have to provide proof. Confirmation bias, correlation vs causation, etc. seem to be ruling the day when it comes to anything mysterious these days.

The comment on Reddit reveals several names that many of us already know. But it seems PiaTeq has not been on many group hikes or MeetUps. The organizers often have "guests" listed (Leader+2 Guests; John Doe+4 Guests, etc) in order to make the hike seem bigger or more interesting often because no one has signed up yet or very few have signed up. It is a way to try to promote it and get more people interested. Also, rarely do the number of people who signed up for MeetUp events actually show. The same three people PiaTeq mentions have also been known to create their own reviews (over and over again) for their business which artificially drives up their review count and rating. This is not cool but not a crime either. Again it can be argued that they do this trying to drum up business for a struggling company rather than being malevolent individuals... though some of the behavior exhibited by one of them does make us question things.

So none of this is some smoking gun that completely changes the narrative. Two of the people listed as going on that hike work closely with Hiker A and they had seven guests listed between the two of them. They may never have intended to go but just sign up on a regular basis to help promote the hikes. Did anyone check previous hikes to see if those same members and guests are listed on other hikes by the same group? So that's nine people that never went on the hike. Then you have Hiker A listed with two guests and that is the number of people that were on the hike.

Supposedly this was confirmed (date; time; and 3 hikers) by sheriff through multiple cameras on the carpool vehicle in Sentry Mode.

[Tob]

I mean I absolutely agree the sensationalism for Monica is beyond nauseating. Even mainstream news outlets just want to focus on this non-existent "connection" to these missing scientists, who I mean yeah that sounds odd at first but people go missing all the time, every year in many different circumstances and from all walks of life.

It would be interesting to compare data from any period in the past for "missing scientists" to see if this number of missing scientists is different than what is typically observed.

Its sad because sometimes there's a benefit when this hyping up happens because it brings attention to a missing person's cause but every single outlet seems to gloss over the actual facts of her disappearance, as few as they may be.

Am I understanding correctly what this PiaTequila account is claiming? That these 5 additional hikers who initially RSVP'd but then bailed and who coincidentally are associated with Subject A, are the same ones who were ready to go and arrived shortly after Monica went missing to form the initial search party before SAR took over? I mean I definitely agree that if true, LE has to be aware of this by now and has determined that there is no funny business but from the outset, I can see why some people might be a little suspicious, ngl.

That certainly does not justify instigating a witch hunt by any means. But I'm assuming if this is all true, it has been thoroughly looked into.

[Gene]

Another summary video by the Lore Lodge.

[RH]

Am I understanding correctly what this PiaTequila account is claiming? That these 5 additional hikers who initially RSVP'd but then bailed and who coincidentally are associated with Subject A, are the same ones who were ready to go and arrived shortly after Monica went missing to form the initial search party before SAR took over?

It's not 5 hikers who RSVPed and then bailed. It was 2 people with 7 guests for a total of 9 that didn't show but that is common. And no, they were not the ones who helped search that first day.

[JeffH]

... June 22nd is a significant date in the occult world, falling on or near the summer solstice. Midsummer sees a weakening of the barrier between our world and the fairy realm....

It's also close to International Hike Naked Day which is June 21. Might be fun to combine these events.

[Sean]

It would be interesting to compare data from any period in the past for "missing scientists" to see if this number of missing scientists is different than what is typically observed.

To discover the typical amount of missing scientists would be a lot of painstaking work. You'd have to search the archives of all the major newspapers and detail every missing scientist for the last several decades at least, maybe going back to WW2, when snatching scientists became a thing, according to Indiana Jones movies.

I'm unwilling to spend time on that project, but I did do a quick Google Trends search.

Screenshot_20260427-185552.Chrome.png

I think the current spike in interest is because some researcher connected Monica Reza with the missing general in New Mexico, who apparently had ties with the UFO community, and then all the conspiracy hounds jumped on the case with their deadend leads and hasty speculations.

Thousands of missing person cases go unsolved each year. A small percentage of those people are bound to be scientists. In this era of the pocket computer it's easy to punch a few search terms into your cell phone and broadcast questions, insinuations and conspiracy theories on social media. It's much harder to do the field work of an actual detective or scientist, visiting the scene, collecting evidence, interviewing witnesses and suspects, processing and analyzing the evidence, and piecing together actual facts and evidence into a viable theory that might result in a resolution to the case.

I'm just a dude on my cell phone, but I've studied the history of missing people in the San Gabriel Mountains. I've read the articles spanning a hundred years. My serious guess is that Monica missed her turn and continued down a use or animal path along the ridge until she realized that she was lost. Panic ensued. She dehydrated and stopped thinking clearly. In the midsummer heat she might have sought shade under a rock, been bitten by a rattlesnake, attacked by a cougar or bear, maybe she wandered into Devil's Canyon seeking water, which happened with Eugene Jo.

I've scrambled through Devil's Canyon. It's no picnic, especially without a picnic basket full of food and critical supplies. I did it on purpose, prepared, within a day. Unprepared, it took Eugene Jo a week to escape the canyon's clutches. If that's where Monica ultimately landed, any number of bad things could have stopped her in her tracks.

[Tob]

Am I understanding correctly what this PiaTequila account is claiming? That these 5 additional hikers who initially RSVP'd but then bailed and who coincidentally are associated with Subject A, are the same ones who were ready to go and arrived shortly after Monica went missing to form the initial search party before SAR took over?

It's not 5 hikers who RSVPed and then bailed. It was 2 people with 7 guests for a total of 9 that didn't show but that is common. And no, they were not the ones who helped search that first day.

Ah okay. That makes much more sense. Yeah she seems a little too determined to prove this group was acting nefarious. Thank you for clearing this up.

So I know this group is extremely knowledgeable when it comes to Monica's disappearance. I'm still just learning so forgive me if this is already known. But in Sidequest Hiker's excellent 2 part video series he mentions at one point that the investigation shared that they were able to determine exactly when her phone stops pinging at a point on Mt Waterman. Am I correct that is consistent with the exact time and place Subject A says he last saw Monica?

Furthermore did he indicate at any time to any of you guys or did LE say that he shared any of his phone data to corroborate any of his claims? Seems like a very basic thing to determine/establish but I just thought I'd ask. I know generally people were saying that Subject A was protective of information.

[SideQuestHiker]

they were able to determine exactly when her phone stops pinging at a point on Mt Waterman

Hopefully that's not what I said! I think I said only that the last ping they found was around 9:02. That doesn't imply her phone went dead at that time, just that 9:02 was the last time her phone was within range of a cell tower. Cell service is really spotty up there. You probably would only have cell service when you're in one of the more open sections of the ridge. I wouldn't be surprised if the last ping happened around the same time as the last photo, as that location is at a very open part of the ridge and you are in direct line-of-sight of all the antennas on top of Mount Wilson. As you continue west towards the corner you start to drop below the crest of the ridgeline and that could put you out of cell tower range. It would be an interesting experiment to see where along the trail you would be in and out of cell tower range.

[RH]

they were able to determine exactly when her phone stops pinging at a point on Mt Waterman

Hopefully that's not what I said! I think I said only that the last ping they found was around 9:02.

I'm not sure I'm confident in cell pings because everything we've been told is law enforcement isn't sharing any information because it's an open investigation. So maybe what's being called a cell ping is actually just the timestamp on the photos. Cell coverage is definitely spotty up there and it probably depends on which carrier one has too.

[RH]

This map might help people understand the theories (we'll post a list of theories tomorrow). The black line is the paved Angeles Crest Highway (ACH; CA2). The purple line is the Upper West Ridge Trail that the hikers took that day. The red dots indicate key points discussed. The two other trails are there for context in discussing theories.

WatermanKeyMap.png

[SideQuestHiker]

This map might help people understand the theories (we'll post a list of theories tomorrow).

Great map! I'm stealing this and adding it to my Reza File google drive, if that's ok with you.

[Tob]

they were able to determine exactly when her phone stops pinging at a point on Mt Waterman

Hopefully that's not what I said! I think I said only that the last ping they found was around 9:02.

I'm sorry I must have misunderstood you. So then we don't have that detailed of corroborating evidence of her exact location as her phone died.

Okay well then yeah that's not as reassuring for Subject A's defense.

[AW~]

Thousands of missing person cases go unsolved each year...

The thing is missing persons in the outdoors is mostly bad info. Thats why the search belongs to the searchers.

I would say this, if Monica had followed the SAR protocol, how much are they willing to bet that she would still be alive. That is if a route goes sideways, you arent cooked. But they would answer it goes sideways in San Gabes, but then she has mobility to New Mexico, where she talks to space aliens how will she be the same person alive. Its like do you expect a psychic to be modern with SERE theory?

Thats why I shouldnt have mentioned meetup.How when something goes amiss with meetup, you can still survive..turns into PiaTequila.

[HikeUp]

This thread makes me think that none of you have ever seen a compass and topo-map, let alone heard of either.

[Taco]

So did she know about aliens or not?

[David R]

This thread makes me think that none of you have ever seen a compass and topo-map, let alone heard of either.

IMO this thread should be shut down too many arm chair analysts with questionable motives for being here and discussing this. This missing hiker for better or for worse has become a “political” issue now and that isn’t what this forum is for. If I would have seen these people discussing all the other missing hikers with as much zeal on this forum in the past, I would feel differently.

[dima]

Don't worry. I think I inadvertently blocked a lot of these people (or robots).

[Tob]

This map might help people understand the theories...

Thank you for the map.

Ngl I'm super excited to hear your guys' theories!

For me, if its at all possible to verify for certain that the three of them arrived at Mt Waterman at 6am that day, and they made it up the trail as we're told then while I'm not suggesting that the in-between details simply don't matter, because they definitely do, the two most important questions that I'm interested in getting answers to effectively are:

How feasible or realistic is it for someone to go missing on mountain trails like that without a sound and only their hat being left behind in the short span of a few hours, followed by a full focused search effort that ensued for hours that turned into days/weeks/months?

How feasible or realistic is it for someone to go missing on mountain trails like that, against their own free will without a sound and only their hat being left behind in the short span of a few hours, followed by a full focused search effort that ensued for hours that turned into days/weeks/months?

Again this isn't to say none of the other in-between details/questions matter, I'm just saying if you get these core issues addressed I think it can potentially save a lot of time as far as baseless speculation is concerned.

To me, in my mind at least, I kind of feel as if the answer to this second question in particular is that, no, it isn't realistic to intentionally make a body completely disappear without a trace within that short amount of time, considering the manner in which it reportedly happened, to where people are searching and yelling out for Monica and all that and have it be a situation where someone is deliberately and nefariously responsible. Not in the way her case is described at the moment, at least.

The way I see this going down is if Subject A or anyone else is involved with intentionally trying to abduct or to harm Monica, for it to have happened as we're being told and furthermore, especially with the scenario for it to have been against her will, then some fundamental part of the story we're being told is incorrect, meaning ultimately Monica was never actually there at the trails that day to begin with.

But you know, I am not an expert hiker by any means. Maybe a seasoned hiker would say, nope, I disagree, it could happen, someone could have forcibly made her "go away" in a short matter of time with no trace left behind at all. I'd love to hear the explanation.

In fact, I've been wanting to hear an experienced hiker address this very question for a while now because I've looked extensively into Barbara Bolick's 2007 disappearance from The Bear Creek Overlook in Victor, Montana. In no way shape or form am I suggesting that Barb and Monica's disappearance are connected. With what we know, at least, that suggestion is as absurd as the people who keep grifting up bogus the scientist connection.

However, that being said, you cannot deny the similarities. There's definitely some notable nuanced differences, unique to both stories but there's enough similarities imo to warrant the comparison. To suggest otherwise is disingenuous. That doesn't mean they're connected but its definitely worth discussing a comparison of the two situations nonetheless imo in terms of addressing the two questions I posed above. I mean maybe its true that there's a lot of missing persons cases involving hiking trails that are similar to both of these cases that would change my opinions, I'm open to that.

I've looked pretty extensively into Barbara's disappearance. I've spoken to someone who was there the day she disappeared and ultimately, my conclusion at this time is that, with what is known officially from the investigation and as far as the story we're told from everyone involved to be accurate and after considering every proposed theory from Jim's potential involvement, Carl's involvement, the two mysterious Missoulan male hikers with the dog somehow being involved, mountain lion attack, mountain "man" attack, the only way for Barbara to have disappeared that day in that short amount of time, without a sound and without a trace is that she left of her own accord. If Jim's story especially is to be believed, down to the detail, Barb simply had to be a willing participant in her own disappearance and likewise the same could be true for Monica. Again there's other unique factors to consider for Monica's case as well that could make her case different in this sense. That is how I see it anyway but again, I'm definitely open to an alternative view from an expert hiker who sees things another way.

From the context I'm gathering here in this thread, referencing Barbara Bolick, I'm assuming with the goofy missing411 attention and y'all being hiking purists, maybe discussion of her case is not welcome, perhaps. If that's how it is, let me know, I won't bring her up again, I mean no disrespect. I am just a guest here trying to learn about what happened with Monica and you guys are the experts.

[Sean]

This thread makes me think that none of you have ever seen a compass and topo-map, let alone heard of either.

InShot_20260429_031835308.jpg

[Sean]

... June 22nd is a significant date in the occult world, falling on or near the summer solstice. Midsummer sees a weakening of the barrier between our world and the fairy realm....

It's also close to International Hike Naked Day which is June 21. Might be fun to combine these events.

So you're saying she was lured off the trail by a naked stud fairy? You might be on to something.

[Sean]

IMO this thread should be shut down too many arm chair analysts with questionable motives for being here and discussing this.

I considered it. Then I asked myself, "What would Squatchy do?"

[Sean]

From the context I'm gathering here in this thread, referencing Barbara Bolick, I'm assuming with the goofy missing411 attention and y'all being hiking purists, maybe discussion of her case is not welcome, perhaps.

You're welcome to discuss any case you want. The longtime members here are local to the mountains around Los Angeles, but our interests and adventures sometimes branch out across America, and sometimes even into other nations.

Based on this archived article about Barbara Bolick, there are some similarities to the Monica Reza case. For example, they were both older ladies who disappeared in the summertime on a mountain trail, with their hiking partner nearby. But I note some important differences too. Barbara hiked her trail regularly, Monica did not. Apparently Barbara's hike was considered easy, while Monica's was more advanced. Also, Barbara was apparently leading her partner on the hike, while Monica was the follower. As for the terrain, Barbara's was said to be more open with lots of shale rock around, while Mt. Waterman has lots of big trees and sets of big boulders.

There are many factors to consider, but I'll focus on just one, the proximity and interaction between leader and follower. I've led many hikes over the years, both on and off trails. But I've also been a follower, especially in the beginning of my hiking career. It is critical that there be clear and reasonable communication between the leaders and the followers. I quickly learned to avoid bad leaders, and I quickly determined to be a good one when I started taking on followers.

I advocate that leaders take a reasonable amount of responsibility for their followers. It's fashionable these days to allow anyone on a MeetUp hike and then the Organizer takes zero responsibility for the newbies. This practice has sometimes led to disaster. Sometimes it's the leader's fault, sometimes it's the follower's fault. But this idea of taking zero responsibility for your followers is insane. It creates hikes with bad leaders--and unprepared followers who don't know or care to avoid bad leaders. A bad situation all around.

I can easily envision a MeetUp hike with bad leadership going terribly wrong, especially on an advanced hike like Waterman's west ridge. YOU DON'T RUN AHEAD OF AN INEXPERIENCED FOLLOWER ON AN ADVANCED TRAIL AT A CRITICAL TURN. Jesus Christ!

This whole confusion over how far Monica was behind the leader, it doesn't surprise me. It sounds like a bad leader being a bad leader. Of course shit happens, and maybe the leader's only mistake was not remaining within a few feet of his follower at a critical turn, and making sure she made the turn. But how much of a bad leader's narrative can we really accept at face value?

The Bolick case is different in that it was the leader who disappeared. So if we believe the follower, then something very strange happened to Bolick to cause her to disappear from the familiar trail. Maybe she had a stroke, got confused and wandered off into the unknown.

[Sean]

How feasible or realistic is it for someone to go missing on mountain trails like that without a sound and only their hat being left behind in the short span of a few hours, followed by a full focused search effort that ensued for hours that turned into days/weeks/months?

That tends to be how it happens. People don't usually go missing while being heard shouting and leaving all of their clothing behind. (Unless maybe you're Jeff on Hike Naked Day!) Plus, there is often a full-blown search quickly organized, especially in Los Angeles with so many SAR groups available. The fact that SAR did not find Monica suggests that she either wandered out of the main search area, got stuck in a spot that SAR missed, or perhaps was a victim of foul play. I don't know enough to rule out any possibility, though I think the evidence makes foul play unlikely. It seems there is photographic evidence of Monica going on this hike, and the location of her beanie would put her off the trail, descending into Devil's Canyon. Certainly some aspects of the "wandering off" theory are strange, but people do strange things when they're emotional from being panicked and irrational from being tired and dehydrated. Maybe she saw the Three Points trail and thought she had to turn left, because that's what she would have done at the bottom of the steep section had she been on the other side of the ridge. Completely turned around, going in the wrong direction, maybe she then left the trail and dropped down into Devil's Canyon, thinking it was the direction of the highway.

How feasible or realistic is it for someone to go missing on mountain trails like that, against their own free will without a sound and only their hat being left behind in the short span of a few hours, followed by a full focused search effort that ensued for hours that turned into days/weeks/months?

This, I think, is unlikely. As others have pointed out, a lion attack is usually discovered quickly. And I can't see how or why a human could or would pull it off. Really it's not worth entertaining such possibilities without real evidence. In these cases I'm a firm believer in Squatchy's Law: when in doubt, blame Squatch!

[Anthony]

There are many factors to consider, but I'll focus on just one, the proximity and interaction between leader and follower...

Well said. Different hikes require different levels of leadership. Some hikes are nearly impossible to get lost on, but a hike like Waterman West Ridge requires active leadership. It's easy to get turned around up there; I've found myself going down the wrong ridge a couple times. Speaking of which, didn't a girl get left behind on Iron Mountain a couple years ago? Similar story; I don't remember hearing about them ever finding her.

[Gene]

I've scrambled through Devil's Canyon. It's no picnic, especially without a picnic basket full of food and critical supplies. I did it on purpose, prepared, within a day. Unprepared, it took Eugene Jo a week to escape the canyon's clutches. If that's where Monica ultimately landed, any number of bad things could have stopped her in her tracks.

I agree on Devils Canyon, years ago I fished the native trout in the lower end of that natter steep and rocky slot.

To the point of hike leadership, there is one additional factor I have yet to find using internet searches. Monica Reza was 60 years old. Older women are very susceptible to Urinary Tract Infections (UTS). UTIs can also induce a form of delirium. I have seen it and heard it more than once*, it's no joke. I'm not a Doc, but it makes sense that the stress of hiking and less than optimal hydration may have set the conditions for an infection.

https://www.cedars-sinai.org/newsroom/u ... -delirium/

“Up to one-third of elderly patients hospitalized with UTIs can experience some degree of confusion and reduced awareness of their surroundings,” Shouri Lahiri, MD

* Including speaking in gibberish and completely irrational thinking.

[Sean]

Speaking of which, didn't a girl get left behind on Iron Mountain a couple years ago? Similar story; I don't remember hearing about them ever finding her.

Yes, Maria Tice. The MeetUp group abandoned her near the top of Iron Mountain, probably because she was slow. Then they never reported her missing. Not one person in the whole group assumed any responsibility for her, knowing that she was struggling to keep up on one of the most difficult hikes in the Gabes. A responsible group would have assigned a sweeper to care for the slowpokes. Instead it took concerned coworkers to report her missing four days after the hike. In the link I provided, SMSR even notes how this wasn't the first incident involving MeetUp, and they provide good tips for surviving a MeetUp group hike.