When 23-year-old hiker Lauren C. disappeared during what was supposed to be a two-hour trail walk, no one imagined it would spark one of the most baffling missing person cases in the region. But what a motion-sensor camera later revealed left investigators and her family with more questions than answers.

Lauren left her car parked at the trailhead on a calm September afternoon. The weather was perfect, and she had told friends she’d be back before sunset. But when evening came and Lauren hadn’t returned, a search was launched. For two full days, search-and-rescue teams combed the forest with dogs, drones, and volunteers. Nothing. Not a shred of clothing, not a single footprint.

Three days later, a wildlife camera mounted deep in the woods triggered unexpectedly. At 3:12 a.m., it captured a single, blurred image: a silhouette of a young woman walking barefoot, arms at her sides, facing directly toward the lens. Her eyes were open. Her expression blank. There were no other footprints or tracks near the camera, and the terrain around it was rocky and hard to reach even in daylight.

Authorities released the image to the public, hoping someone could identify the figure. Lauren’s parents confirmed the clothing matched what she had been wearing, but insisted she never went hiking without shoes. “She was extremely cautious,” her mother told local news. “This isn’t like her at all.”

Even more puzzling, the area where the photo was taken had already been thoroughly searched. The camera, according to records, hadn’t triggered at all during those earlier days—and then, suddenly, this.

Months have passed. No new leads. The photo remains the last and only sign of Lauren. Some locals whisper that the forest is cursed, others believe she may have fallen victim to something… not entirely human.

But whatever happened to Lauren, one thing is certain: you don’t simply vanish, reappear in front of a camera in the dead of night, and then disappear again… unless there’s a story behind it no one’s ready to tell.