Michele Wallace was 25 and a freelance photographer who loved the outdoors when she disappeared in the late summer of 1974 during a solo hike in the mountains near Crested Butte in Gunnison County, Colorado. She failed to make a daily call to her parents, prompting a search that found neither her nor her red Mazda station wagon. Witnesses reported she had given a ride to two men after their vehicle broke down; one was left at a local bar and the other, a drifter named Roy Melanson, continued with Michele and was the last person reported to have been with her.

In 1979 hikers found a braided scalp near Kebler Pass that was later considered a probable match to Michele. Her remains were recovered in 1992 by members of NecroSearch International; her skull, identified by a gold tooth, and clothing remnants confirmed she had been killed. Investigators focused on Melanson; he was charged and convicted of Michele’s murder in 1993 and received a life sentence. The case left a long shadow for Michele’s family and community.

Did anyone in the Crested Butte area in 1974 have information about Michele’s last known movements or about people offering rides on the road she used?