Friends who mysteriously vanished while hiking left unsettling photo evidence on their phones

Two friends who mysteriously vanished during a hike left behind some unsettling photo evidence on their phones.

The disappearance of two women who had been on a hiking trip around the Panama jungle left authorities baffled after they searched for clues as to what happened to the pair.

Kris Kremers, 21 and Lisanne Froon, 22, had been planning their trip for months before they vanished on 1 April, 2014.

The two women vanished without a trace (YouTube)

It’s believed that they had been traveling through a forested region near the Baru volcano in Boquete, Panama before disappearing without a trace.

And things only got more confusing when a backpack containing their belongings, including phones, a camera, money and items of clothing, washed up by the Culebra river.

The truth about what had happened to the women sparked much debate on social media, with many sharing their own theories on what might have happened.

Police found that the phones were still in working order for some time after the friends had gone missing and they discovered that a total of 77 calls had been made to emergency services, to no avail.

Several of the pictures had been taken at night (TVN2)

Meanwhile, photos discovered on their camera added more details to the incident but gave few answers.

The series of photos found included a number which were almost completely dark and had clearly been taken at night.

Some of the pictures show the women's belongings spread out on some rocks next to a plastic bag and wrappers, while another appeared to show the back of Kremers’ head.

Other have suggested that the two young women had been involved in an accident and Kremers had died when trying to get help for herself and Froon.

This idea further emboldened when later that year when fragments of bone belonging to the women were found.

Their belongings were spread out in the photos (TVN2)

While Froon’s bones seemed to have decomposed naturally, strangely Kremers’ appeared to have been bleached due to their stark white appearance.

Dutch authors Marja West and Jürgen Snoeren claimed that their book, Lost in The Jungle, solved the mystery.

West said: “Our conclusion had to be that it was an accident. It took us quite some time to get there.

“Once we had the files, we could understand where people outside the investigation got sidetracked and why.

"The police were inundated by tips, each had to be checked out, losing them valuable time. It became a hell of a job."

No official cause of death has been ruled due to lack of evidence.