Rosemary Theresa Kunst -- Missing in California Since 2000

Paraphrased details from government source**: 

Rosemary Kunst was last seen August 18th, 2000 near Spirit Lake's Marble Mountain Wilderness Area, Klamath National Forest in California. Kunst, an avid hiker, had gone off on a hike by herself carrying only a journal, a sandwich, and a bag of trail mix. It is believed that Kunst may have gotten lost or injured in the heavy-forest terrain. A tuft of her hair was found during a search, but no other clues were ever found. This hair was found caught in some heavy brush south of Spirit Lake.

Missing Person: Rosemary Theresa Kunst
Last-contact date: August 18th, 2000
The area where the MP was last seen: Siskiyou, California at the south end of Spirit Lake walking toward a ridge
Link to government source: NamUs MP 

VITAL DETAILS

Ethnicity: White/Caucasian
Sex: Female
Age at time of disappearance: 70 years old
Birthdate: November 1st, 1929
Hair: Gray, partly gray, graying
Eyes: Hazel
Scar: Surgical scars
Height/weight: 5'3" and 122 pounds
BMI*: Rosemary Theresa Kunst was in the normal range for BMI.
Tattoos: Rosemary Theresa Kunst did not have any tattoos associated with her profiles.

Rosemary Theresa Kunst, a missing person, was last heard from on August 18th, 2000 when she was 70 years old. This individual has now been missing for about 21 years as of the original publication date of this blog post.

What stands out with this case is that a tuft of the missing person's hair was discovered in the search for her. In my mind, there was a question as to whether this hair was definitely Kunst's, however, I was satisfied after reading that it was forensically identified by comparing the sample to her known hair in a brush.

22 Aug 2000, Tue The San Francisco Examiner (San Francisco, California) Newspapers.com

I tried to think about what it meant for a missing person to disappear on a hike and only a tuft of her hair to be found during the search. To me, there is something to think about when it comes to the height off of the ground of where the hair was found. If it was found in brush close to the ground, then this might suggest that she was being dragged. If it's found at about shoulder-level then it could just be a standard tangling that could happen to anyone.

However, for the hair to come loose is interesting, I think, because I see most people as untangling their hair from brush by breaking the twigs as opposed to the more painful option of having their hair torn out. I do think the tuft of hair being removed from her scalp suggests that something forceful happened to this missing person during her hike in August 2000.

This missing person was associated with a lot of clothing articles and/or possessions. Note the following with this case: she had a journal, a sandwich, a bag of trail mix, a blue fleece shirt, a blue baseball cap, and hiking boots. The food could have been an attractant for a wild animal. However, the scenario of an animal attack is mitigated in my mind by the fact that no blood was found anywhere after a large search that lasted a week and none of the articles she was in possession of were found. Animals aren't tidy with their attacks: if a mountain lion, wolves, or a bear attacked Rosemary Kunst then I think the search would likely have produced one of her items or a portion of one.

That does call into question the possibility of foul play. Of course, that can't be eliminated until she is found but the likelihood of a human disappearing Kunst is mitigated by the remote location. Then again, that remoteness could create opportunity for anyone that was out there.

Lastly, I don't think Rosemary Kunst went into the forest to commit self-harm. Those that knew her seemed confident that she wasn't despondent. While secret depression can never really be eliminated, Rosemary reportedly did invite a youth at her camp along for the hike. That youth declined the invitation. If Rosemary was going to harm herself then I don't think she extends any invitation at all because she couldn't count on the decline.

This truly is puzzling case except that the tuft of hair coming out of her head suggests something forceful in nature occurred. My guess is that she was attacked by a man or animal, hidden (animals might hide a corpse), and her remains are in the region still despite the search.

Please share this article to social media using hashtags that are related to where the missing person went missing from, which is Siskiyou, California.

Author: Shane Lambert (UncoolNegated on Websleuths)

All articles are subject to editing after the original posting.

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

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*For BMI values, I use the UPPER or HIGHER ranges that are given for height and weight.
**Might not be the exact meaning that NamUs or Canada's Missing conveys. I improve upon their descriptions with my research.
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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