KKAT HAMMONTRE, DISAPPEARED APRIL 11, 2019, CAÑÓN DEL DIABLO, SIERRA DE SAN PEDRO MÁRTIR NATIONAL PARK, SAN FELIPE DESERT, BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO.
Revised April 2024 following an update from a family member
On April 11, 2019, Katherine “Kat” Hammontre, 68, and her dog Tootsie took a hike near Cañón del Diablo (Devils Canyon in English) in the Sierra de San Pedro Mártir National Park. The park is near San Felipe in Baja California, Mexico. Six other hikers accompanied her that day.
During the hike, Kat decided to rest since she had a pre-existing foot injury. The others in the small group walked on to their destination, but when they returned to the spot near a pool, Kat and her dog were nowhere to be seen. A large search of the area revealed nothing—she had mysteriously vanished without a trace.
What happened in the Cañón del Diablo? How can a woman with a dog who recently suffered a fracture in three toes disappear in 90°F heat with no trace whatsoever?
Who was Kat Hammontre?
Kat Hammontre was born in Seattle, Washington, but lived in Mexico for about 20 years. She worked as a paralegal in Washington and wrote a blog, “Kat’s Korner”, reporting on San Felipe news. She also taught English to local schoolchildren and was well-known in the area.
In 2018, Kat had chemotherapy for liver cancer, and the treatments had left her weak, although her daughter, Desiree Blair, described her mom as “a pretty tough chick” who was a good hiker and familiar with the area.
The day she went missing was the one-year anniversary of getting married to her husband, Warren Sundquist. According to Desiree, she argued with Warren a few days before the hike in Cañón del Diablo, which ended up in them breaking up. Kat moved her belongings back to her house in town and was very upset. They spoke on the phone for the next day or two and decided to get back together because she didn't want it to end the way it had.
Kat Hammontre and Warren Sundquist
The circumstances behind the breakup were somewhat bizarre. Kat was at a neighbors house and had fallen asleep; Warren was not sure where she was as she hadn’t left a note to tell him. Warren felt disrespected and annoyed and, for reasons unknown, told her to move out. Desiree said, “I think there was more to that, a reason my mom went to the neighbors in the first place?”.
When Kat and Warren got to the canyon, Warren and Dave, the husband of a fellow hiker, Nicole, decided to stay behind with the vehicles because one of the two trucks was not running properly.
So Kat set off with the others for the first set of pools on the hike to the waterfall at the top of the trail with her dog Tootsie. There was some tension between Kat and Warren, especially as it was meant to be their anniversary, and Kat was hiking alone. After breaking up and getting back together, it would be expected that Kat and Warren would spend their special day together, but, for reasons unknown, Warren wanted to stay in the Jeep.
Kat Hammontre and Warren Sundquist
The hike near Diablo Canyon
On Thursday, April 11, 2019, Kat Hammontre, 68, went for a hike near the entrance of the Cañon del Diablo (aka Devils Canyon) in the San Pedro Mártir Sierra near San Felipe, in Baja California
She was with a group of six others when she told them she needed to rest about 10 minutes into the hike by one of the area’s beautiful pools of water. She wasn’t walking well because of a previous foot injury.
Cañon del Diablo (aka Devils Canyon) is perhaps one of San Felipe's least-known tourist attractions. This is not surprising because the terrain is challenging for vehicles to access, and there is no cell phone connection.
Cañon del Diablo is a stunning canyon in the Sierra de San Pedro Mártir National Park with waterfalls at the base of Baja’s highest 10,157 ft peak, Picacho del Diablo. Water from the peak of the San Pedro Mártir mountains flows down, forming clear water pools to enjoy in the canyon.
To reach the area, drive from San Felipe, Baja California, on mostly dirt roads for 33 miles to the trailhead. A 4x4 vehicle isn't necessarily needed, but you will cross a dry lake bed and sandy sections that can be difficult.
The trail starts in an area of giant Cardon Cactus (Pachycereus pringlei) and ascends a hill for 1/4 of a mile before the canyon begins. Watch for rock cairns and follow the footsteps left by previous hikers. Soon, you will see and hear the water. The water is crystal clear but extremely cold.
But the area is not without danger. Extreme temperatures and other factors mean travelers should be cautious. The United States advises Americans to “exercise extreme caution” when visiting the state of Baja California Sur due to high crime levels. According to a report by The Washington Post, more than 500 Americans are currently missing in Mexico.
Kat’s dog Tootsie
Kat wrote in a blog post on April 5, 2019, “As some of you already know, I broke two toes on my right foot, and then today, a dude pulling an ice chest full of beer rolled over my left foot. No big deal on the left foot as I already had three broken toes. The right foot is throbbing as I write.”.
She told the other hikers that she would wait for them to return from the short hike to the waterfall, around 90 minutes round trip. She sat down at the side of the pool with her dog, Tootsie, so it could play in the water and cool off.
A fellow hiker called Nicole lit a cigarette for Kat, and the rest of the group continued to the waterfall. That would be the last time Kat was seen.
The group appeared unperturbed by Kat’s decision to stay behind alone. But it does beg the question, why would they leave Kat there alone? In the desert of Mexico or any other desert location, groups should never split up and leave someone behind.
Cañon del Diablo pool
Cañon del Diablo pool
San Pedro Mártir Sierra
The disappearance and search
When the group returned about 90 minutes later, neither Kat nor her dog were anywhere to be found. They thought she must have returned to her husband, Warren Sundquist, who was waiting in a Jeep at the trailhead. But after heading back to the parking lot to check, she wasn't there either, and Warren hadn’t seen her.
Kat reportedly showed no signs of extreme physical distress and wasn’t suffering from the 90°F heat. It was certain that she could not have strayed far from her last known whereabouts due to poor health as a result of her previous history of cancer and foot injury.
After Kat was discovered missing by the group of hikers, local search-and-rescue crews and Mexican military helicopters searched the area from April 12, but unfortunately, no trace was found.
Volunteers, Mexicali Civil Protection personnel, the fire department, the army, the Red Cross, and five search and rescue dogs were involved.
When the cadaver dogs were taken to the canyon and surrounding area, it was a very windy day, and they never caught Kat’s scent.
While searching, Mexican law enforcement officials found and eradicated two marijuana grows 34 miles northwest of San Felipe.
The hiking group was questioned, but it is unclear if police believe that they had anything to do with her disappearance.
State Civil Protection Chief Antonio Rosquillas announced the search was being called off on Monday, April 15, 2019, only four days after Kat vanished. At that point, the case was turned over to the State Attorney General’s Office (PGJE). Rosquillas said, “We suspended the search. We combed the area surrounding the spot where she was last seen, a 5km perimeter, and we did not find her”.
On the night that Kat went missing, her husband Warren stayed at the trailhead parking lot while the others went to town to call the Red Cross and other groups to notify them that someone was missing up at the canyon. Warren was a bit older than Kat, and maybe he had been drinking throughout the day and fell asleep in his jeep that night. But it seemed unusual for him not to be heavily involved in the search effort immediately after the disappearance.
When Kat’s daughter, Desiree, arrived in San Felipe to aid in the search, it had already been called off, and when Warren and a group had come back from their search, he had shown her a picture of a cross he had made with sticks to put up at the trail at a memorial. She was disturbed that her husband was already saying she was dead when she had been gone for such a short time.
However, Warren was involved in the unofficial search after the authorities had called it off. He and a group of friends/volunteers went to search for Kat several times. Checking a nearby cattle ranch and the area between the canyon and the ranch, which appeared too far for Kat to reach, Warren spoke to the ranchers to let them know his wife and dog had gone missing. Unfortunately, they said they had not seen her or her dog.
The group also went to a location near the pot farm and tried to speak to a few standoffish and rude Haitian men. They did not want to answer any questions and didn't like that they were being questioned. It seemed very suspicious. However, the police had been there and searched the premises to no avail.
One of the other hikers, Kevin, who had a drone with little battery life, sent it up and around the area to see if they could see any signs of Kat. Because the mountains had received a bit more rain that season, the brush and plant life were more mature than normal, and it was difficult to see much in many of the areas. If Kat had curled up under a bush or taken shelter, she would be difficult to see. It didn't help that her clothing was not suitable for desert conditions. She had a whitish tank top and khaki-coloured shorts and wore her K-swiss tennis shoes. She had recently dyed her hair a crimson red because of charity work she was supporting for breast cancer. Nonetheless, the drone found nothing despite her red hair.
After Desiree had to leave San Felipe to get back to her kids, she kept in touch with Warren, who would go to the Baja California State Attorney General (PGJE) and ask for any updates, but there never were. After a month or two, Warren stopped asking. They told him if something came up, they would let him know.
At that point, since the search was called off and the case was turned over to PGJE, it was largely forgotten about without constant pestering by family members. Detectives were put on cases only for a few months and then rotated, which didn’t help.
Family members were not proactively contacted; the main contact who spoke English was contacted, but they never got a reply.
Desiree said, “I felt like I was alone in this. Wanting to do so much more but couldn't do anything being that I lived so far away. I got the posters up around town and that produced nothing. I even experienced an attempt of extortion, getting text messages that they had my mom and demanded money for her return. It was an awful feeling, the initial rise of hope that she is alive to the devastation that I knew who was texting me these lies. The only person, besides Warren that had my new cell number turned out he is a con man that I guess had conned Nicole's mom two years prior for a few thousand dollars. I told Warren about it and told him to take the texts I saved that were sent to to me to the cops. I don't know but I don't think he ever did. He did know of the guy and told me, he and a few others went to this guy's place and confronted him about texting me. The guy was never arrested or even questioned. And when I tried to take it to our f.b.i, they told me to make a missing person's report but since the guy is in Mexico, its out of their jurisdiction. It is illegal to extort someone in Mexico and the U.S. anyway. Made me pretty upset.”
What happened to Kat Hammontre?
This is a seriously mysterious case, as Kat and her dog Tootsie have not been found after several years. Not one piece of evidence has been located near where she went missing.
There was just a 90-minute gap between when she was left and when the group returned. How far could she have gotten in that time? Search and rescue teams searched further than she could have gone on foot, never mind that she had broken toes.
Possible theories:
Lost on the trail or misadventure
Perhaps Kat left the agreed-upon meeting spot on the trail because “nature called,” she wandered off to find a discreet place. Maybe the dog ran off for some reason, and she went off after it. But she would have been found during the search.
Did something happen when the group got to the pools? Are they all covering for each other? This scenario seems unlikely.
Kat’s daughter Desiree said, “Anyway, as I was saying, my mom knew not to wander. There are videos my mom took, I have them, and you can find them online, where she got lost in the desert, but she was in her sand buggy; she had a lighter, emergency water, and her cell phone to record the video, and an emergency blanket. The first video shows my mom narrating her being lost, building a fire, being conscious it wasn't too close to other shrubs, and not wanting to catch the mountainside on fire. Checking her surroundings, finding poo, from what she said, either coyote or mountain lions; she wasn't sure. She had said she wasn't scared; it's their territory, and she loved the desert and mountains.
She said this is where her soul heals. Anyway, she goes on to say she would make camp for the night and says if you're ever in the desert, stay put, don't wander because you will get even more lost. And says I know the sun rises in the east. Etc. But that she is directionally challenged. Lol. She said she will find her way in the morning, and she did.
One of the other videos shows her fire is burning, and she says she might just curl up in her Sharinga (dune buggy) as there are spiders and snakes. However, I don't think she slept much that night, if at all. She also says if I don't make it out of here, I love you, Desiree. It made me cry so much. I was so thankful she did make it out of there. She kept saying how beautiful it was out there. Anyway. That's how I know she knew not to wander. And really, how far could she have gotten? And what about the dog? I know that if she had died out there instinctively, dogs would stay with their owners as long as they can, or most do, I think until they have to get water or food. Then, they will leave and search for water or food. But Tootsie has never been seen, either. She had a collar on but no leash. “
Abduction
Was Kat abducted off the trail as her hiking group was ahead? The area is very isolated; she would likely be seen if Kat returned to the parking lot. This would seem unlikely, given the isolated spot and number of people in the area. A woman being kidnapped by force would surely have been seen.
Murder by a fellow hiker or Warren
Was Kat murdered by someone she knew or a stranger in a random attack? Was her body and her dog taken and quickly buried out there in the desert? Why would she be singled out? - perhaps her jewellery attracted a lone predator? Tootsie was not a good guard dog against an unexpected, unprovoked attack.
Because of the terrain in the area, someone could be 20-30 feet in front of you, and you would not be able to see them. If someone were watching the group, they would have never known it.
One of the hikers that had walked up the trail with Kat called Kevin, who was chatting and laughing with her, ended up killing himself just a few months short of the one-year anniversary of the disappearance.
According to Kevin’s daughter, coincidentally called Desiree, Kat’s disappearance was very upsetting because he felt that he might have prevented her from going missing if he had stayed behind with her. Kat’s daughter said, “ I told him via email, a month or two after Mom went missing, not to be too hard on himself. It's not his fault. I'm glad she had someone to walk with who was kind. “
Kat’s daughter reports that Warren’s home has security cameras around his porch and entrance to his house. In one video from just before the disappearance, Kat and Warren are seen going back and forth from the house to the jeep, bringing things for the trip. At one point you can hear Kat say,..."well if I get bit by a snake, don’t look for me cuz i won’t be there." Was there a message in this video? Did she mean that if something happens up there to her, they will make it so we can’t find her?
Did Kat return to the jeep at the parking lot, and something happened there? Was Warren, Dave or both involved?
Warren's home was searched by the police, who did a DNA search of his vehicle and found no blood or DNA. They also took a laptop belonging to Kat, but the MacBook Pro security couldn’t be broken. They returned it to Warren, and many months later, Warren sent it to Desire Blair, hoping she could crack her password and get into it. However, living in Spokane, Washington, at the time, it was stolen from her home. She said, “ Having no info on the computer and no way to track it, I never got it back. I still am so very upset about it. It felt like my last and maybe only chance to see if there was a clue or something in that laptop to aid in finding her.“
Desiree said, “I don't think Warren is a killer. First, he has no motive; second, my mom may have had broken toes and cancer, but I know she would have fought tooth and nail to protect herself. I will say this: a number of years before her going missing, she took a survival class. She knew not to wonder; she knew the sun rose in the east and set in the west. She loved her dog Tootsie, but if she had run off, I don't think my mom would have pursued it too far. We know it wasn't an animal that got my mom, as there are mountain lions in that area because there was no blood or signs of an attack. But no dog poo from Tootsie was found either.”
The police dossier that Warren was sent did not include reports from the other hikers. However, Nicole's husband, Dave, who stayed with Warren, was questioned twice.
Intentional disappearance
Perhaps Kat headed back to the parking lot alone with the dog, was picked up by someone, and left the area voluntarily to start a new life.
Kat didn't have her bank card or passport, so if she were planning on leaving Warren and not returning, this would leave her with significant issues.
According to the family, this scenario seemed very remote.
Self-harm
Perhaps Kat harmed herself? Perhaps she wasn’t s going to let the cancer kill her as she didn’t want any more chemotherapy. But where is Kat if she committed suicide, never mind the dog?
Alien abduction.
There have been many reports of UFO activity in that area. Perhaps an alien abduction is a possibility?
She wasn’t hiking at all
Perhaps Kat wasn’t in the area at all. Some have speculated that the hike never happened. This would mean everyone in the group was covering up, which seems unlikely.
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Sources
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/search-under-way-for-seattle-woman-who-went-missing-during-hike-in-mexico/#:~:text=Kat%20Hammontre%2C%20a%20Nathan%20Hale,daughter%2C%20Desiree%20Blair%20of%20Spokane.
https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/san-felipe-kat-hammontre-search-missing-american-mexico/81432/
https://www.websleuths.com/forums/threads/mexico-kat-hammontre-68-us-citizen-baja-california-11-april-2019.437573/
https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/search-continues-for-woman/
https://themazatlanpost.com/2019/04/16/search-for-missing-american-expat-from-san-felipe-in-devils-canyon-suspended/
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6934805/Fears-grow-American-hiker-68-missing-Baja-California-Mexico.html
