Celeste Hensley Greub -- Missing Since 1976 From Wyoming

Details from NamUs**: 

"Celeste went missing in the year 1976. She went hiking in the Big Horns with a group of people. She elected to take a break near the trailhead and when the group came back, she was gone."

Missing Person: Celeste Hensley Greub

Last-contact date: August 10th, 1976 before 5pm

22 Aug 1976, Sun Casper Star-Tribune (Casper, Wyoming) Newspapers.com

The area where the MP was last seen: Kaycee, Wyoming in the Cloud Peak Primitive Area of the Big Horn Mountains

Link to government source: NamUs MP 

VITAL DETAILS

Ethnicity: Caucasian
Sex: Female
Age at time of disappearance: 20 years old
Birthdate: December 3rd, 1955 (I think)
Hair: Not known
Eyes: Not known
Scar: No scars known
Height/weight: 5'2" and weighs 115-120 pounds
Tattoos: Celeste Hensley did not have any tattoos associated with her profiles. 

The NamUs profile, at the time of writing, was not complete for Celeste Hensley. It was missing the date of the disappearance and her body dimensions. For the record, the missing person was 5'2" and 115 to 120 pounds and I think she went missing on August 10th, 1976. The earliest journalism I found covering this case was from Tuesday, August 17th, 1976 and it said that she went missing the previous Tuesday.

17 Aug 1976, Tue Casper Star-Tribune (Casper, Wyoming) Newspapers.com

This individual has now been missing for about 45 years as of the original publication date of this blog post. If you are researching this individual's background, then she was described as being "of Casper" in many news articles so focus on Casper, Wyoming. On Ancestry, I think she is Wyma Celeste Hensley born on December 3rd, 1955 in Montana.

What stands out with this case, at least at first glance, is that she was having marital problems at the time of her disappearance. However, I had trouble picturing her husband disappearing her given the remote location that she went missing in.

She was a part of a trio of female backpackers: two went to climb a peak while Celeste elected to rest. When the two peak-climbers returned to collect Celeste, they found that she was gone. I don't think the husband could go into the backcountry and lay in wait for her because it seemed that her decision to separate from the group was a random thing at a hard-to-predict location. There was an insinuation in some media coverage that she might have wanted to disappear because she was described as "distraught."

One interesting point that I read in the journalism was that the search area was very challenging. One searcher said there were canyons or drop-offs near where she went missing that you could drop cars into.

19 Aug 1976, Thu Casper Star-Tribune (Casper, Wyoming) Newspapers.com

This case had some similarities to another case I did research on in the past. Despite occurring 42 years earlier, the case of Olga Mauer has a lot in common with the case of Celeste Hensley Greub. Both Mauer and Hensley-Greub disappeared under similar circumstances.

• Reportedly, both women were in the backcountry and voluntarily separated from their companion(s)
• When the companion(s) returned, they found the woman was not where they expected her
• Enormous searches were conducted
• Neither Mauer nor Greub has been heard from or seen since
• Coincidentally, both of the disappearances were in the state of Wyoming

My opinion on both cases is the same. Mauer and Grueb probably each got bored of waiting and decided to try and venture back alone. Some kind of mishap happened during this time. The route into the backcountry doesn't look the same when it's played in reverse so getting lost in the forest is a possibility. Additionally, there are wild animals out there. As always, suicide and abduction can't be discounted.

When it comes to finding Greub, it should be noted that a huge search effort was funded by the family. However, there were areas that were not deemed searchable. Jane Does found in the Big Horn Mountains near Buffalo, Wyoming might be Greub but all Websleuths have to compare with at this point is a height of 5'2". 

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Author: Shane Lambert

All articles are subject to editing after the original posting.

Shane Lambert is not a Private Investigator, however, he is currently studying to be one as of March 2021.

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Website hashtag: #MPCSL

*For BMI values, I use the UPPER or HIGHER ranges that are given for height and weight.
**Text might be paraphrased. If taken verbatim, then grammar or spelling errors are not necessarily corrected from original sources.
Disclaimer: Whenever possible, government sources are preferred for getting the details of a missing persons case. However, any source that the article writer deems reputable may be used.

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