A body found in a hammock in a forest in Alabama has been identified as belonging to an Ohio mother who went missing after leaving for a camping trip months ago.
Vendula Wendy Rose, who disappeared on Sept. 24, was identified by human remains found in the Talladega National Forest by the Alabama Department of Forensic Science on Wednesday, Dec. 4, Cleburne County Coroner’s Office said in a statement on Facebook.
“On Dec. 4, the Cleburne County Sheriff’s Office was notified by Cleburne County Coroner Adam Downs in reference to a positive confirmation that the remains believed to be Mrs. Rose located in the National Forest was indeed Mrs. Vendula Wendy Rose,” the statement read.
Her cause of de*ath has not been released.
Rose was last seen leaving for a cross-state camping trip to Alabama on Sept. 24, the Marysville Police Division in Ohio previously shared on Facebook. She was expected to return home from her trip on Oct. 2.
An investigation was subsequently carried out by police in search of Rose when she did not return. She was believed to be “suffering a mental health crisis” at the time of her disappearance.
According to a timeline shared by police, Rose left for her trip driving in a silver Honda Accord.
Rose last spoke to her family and friends about going on a hiking trip on Sept. 20, telling them she was “leaving some personal belongings in a Safe Deposit Box at her bank.” She also “left her work keys with her employer” at the time, according to police.
Rose arrived in the Dugger Mountain area of Cleburne and Calhoun County on Sept. 20, police said. There, she “hiked that portion of the Pinhoti Trail.”
She then went to South Carolina on Sept. 24, before coming back to Cleburne County that afternoon, according to police.
Rose was then captured on camera journeying to Oxford, Ala., and “making a purchase at a business” before leaving solo on Sept. 24.
Police found later found Rose’s vehicle on Oct. 7. They said that the car had “multiple notes that were deemed as abnormal for Rose unless she was having a mental health crisis.”
A box of ammunition with seven rounds missing was found in the car, according to police. They said at the time that there wasn’t any evidence “to believe that there is any foul play suspected in this case.”
Rose’s body was then discovered weeks later by a hunter on Saturday, Nov. 30, police said.
“I appreciate the hard work that Coroner Downs and the Alabama Department of Forensic Science done to confidently confirm this for the family,” Sheriff Jon Daniel said on Facebook.
He added, “My prayers are with Mrs. Rose’s family and friends as they go through this loss.”
