Hiker last seen asking hunters for help vanishes in New Mexico wilderness, family says
A 37-year-old hiker was last seen asking hunters for help on a remote and rugged New Mexico road, her family said.
Now she’s been missing for over three weeks, and her family is asking for help in finding her.
Ingrid Coleen Lane of Albuquerque disappeared Oct. 15 from Forest Road 144 in the Jemez Mountains, according to a missing person’s post shared by the Sandoval County Sheriff’s Office on Facebook.
She flagged down hunters to help her with a flat tire on the road, her twin sister, Kelsey Lane, told McClatchy News by phone Nov. 7.
The hunters put air in her tire and offered to take her to a nearby town, but she declined, saying she was trying to hike a local mountain peak.
Her family doesn’t know which mountain she planned to hike because she didn’t tell anyone of her plans, Kelsey Lane said.
Her abandoned black 2019 Subaru Impreza Hatchback was found on the same forest road a few days days after she was last seen, authorities said.
Before disappearing, Ingrid Lane went to the Bodhi Manda Zen Center in Jemez Springs — a place where she had previously lived for a year around 2012, Kelsey Lane said. Visitors practice Zen Buddhism meditation at the center.
“We’re kind of thinking, maybe she’s been reconnecting with her favorite places from when she last lived there,” Kelsey Lane said.
Although she is a hiker who is “comfortable in the woods,” she can’t hike long distance due to serious lung issues, Kelsey Lane said.
So Kelsey Lane said the family doubts she would have intentionally hiked far from her car that day.
It’s possible she got another ride into the mountains because her scent “went dead” for dog teams, she said.
In addition to using dog teams around Ingrid Lane’s vehicle, search teams have flown drones around the nearby mountain peaks without finding any evidence of her, Kelsey Lane said.
Now the family is raising money on GoFundMe so they can buy flight time with a helicopter to search for her from the air.
Local authorities advised against a “big civilian search” because of the remote area, Kelsey Lane said. Instead, the family is trying to share her missing person flyer in hopes someone can come forward with information about her whereabouts.
“Ingrid, if you’re out there, many, many people are loving and missing you and want you back,” her mother, Rebecca Lane, told KRQE.
The Jemez Mountains is about 100 miles north of Albuquerque. The area is forested with rocky peaks, lakes and hot springs.
This story was originally published November 6, 2023 at 2:52 PM with the headline "Hiker last seen asking hunters for help vanishes in New Mexico wilderness, family says."
