Cornelia Meyer, a 27-year-old German tourist, vanished on July 22, 1996, while visiting Death Valley with her partner Egbert Rimkus and two children, Georg Weber (11) and Max Meyer (4). The family was last known to have been at Furnace Creek Visitor Center, where they bought a guidebook before heading into the Panamint Mountains. They were due to fly home on July 29 but never boarded; their seats went unclaimed.

On October 26, 1996, the family’s rental minivan was located stuck in sand at Anvil Spring Canyon, an area closed to traffic. Three tires were flat and personal items including clothing, shoes, and a camera were inside. An extensive search turned up no trace of the group then. In 2009 human remains were found; the male remains were identified as Egbert Rimkus, and the female remains are believed to be Cornelia Meyer though DNA confirmation was not possible. The children’s remains have never been recovered and are presumed to have died of exposure in extreme heat that reached 124 degrees Fahrenheit.

What did investigators miss in the first searches, and can anyone who visited Anvil Spring Canyon in July 1996 shed light on the family’s final movements?