Elizabeth Mathews, 48, left her Flagstaff home on Kingswood Way at about 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, February 21, 1998, for a walk and never returned. A U.S. Forest Service geologist who enjoyed the outdoors, she was reportedly planning to hike in Verde Valley. She was dressed in a light blue Patagonia jacket with a dark fleece liner, dark blue jeans, white tennis shoes, and carrying a dark blue backpack; she wore a gold watch and both engagement and wedding rings.

Search teams mounted immediate and extensive efforts in the areas around her home and the rugged slopes of Mount Elden, but the wilderness yielded no trace. Investigators checked leads including a recent trip she and her husband had taken to Utah and an unconfirmed suggestion she might have gone to California, but nothing produced concrete information. Authorities initially reported no signs of foul play, and the case remains open with no definitive conclusion about whether she intended to disappear, suffered an accident, or was the victim of an undetected crime.

If anyone knew Elizabeth’s usual routes, hiking plans, or saw her that afternoon, can you share what you remember?