Nepali parks marked by missing tourists
Spate of cases near Katmandu puts attention on 2010 disappearance of Colorado woman
KATMANDU, Nepal — After two months of trekking through Nepal’s wintry valleys and hills, a young American hiked alone along a path before ending her journey.
As she stopped to rest near two stupas, or Buddhist temples, in Langtang National Park two days before Christmas, Lena Sessions, 23, spotted a local man wearing a black dust mask.
“Either I (sexually assault) you or I kill you,” she said the man told her. He then came at her with a curved 1½-foot knife, the traditional khukuri used by local tribes.
Sessions escaped and made her way to the U.S. Embassy in Katmandu, where she learned she was not the first to encounter problems on that trail while hiking alone.
The U.S. Embassy has issued a warning against hiking alone in Nepal, stating that two American women were attacked and seriously injured in 2010 while hiking alone on popular trails.
“Foreigners have also gone missing while trekking alone,” the State Department website states — as has an American.
Sessions’ attack and several other cases are helping to focus more attention on a young Colorado woman missing for almost two years.
-A-brey Sacco, 23, disappeared while hiking in the area in April 2010. A poster of the Greeley, Colo., woman hangs in front of the U.S. Embassy in Katmandu. The poster asks those who might have seen her to send a note to her parents. Sacco had also been trekking alone in Langtang National Park.
-In September 2005, a French woman, Celine Henry, disappeared in Shivapuri-nagarjun National Park, also near Katmandu.
-Six weeks later, a German woman, Sabine Grüneklee, disappeared in the same area. Her body was found in 2006.
-In 2006, a German woman, Kristina Kovacevic, disappeared in northern Nepal while trekking alone. Her body was found in a ravine. Nepali police said she fell, but her family says she was robbed, and they suspect she was killed.
Stories of other missing tourists have trickled in since Aubrey Sacco disappeared — as have theories about a potential serial killer.
Grüneklee’s body was found in 2006, and a second body, possibly Henry’s, was found nine months after Grüneklee’s. Both were badly decomposed.
In response, the British Foreign Office posted this on its website: “There has been a recent rise in incidents of female tourists being attacked, including cases of rape, by bands of criminals.”
The U.S. State Department warned travelers that Nepali police have reported more sexual assaults involving foreigners.
The State Department did not re- spond to a request for more information. Denver FBI officials confirmed that officers had sat down with Aubrey Sacco’s family. But federal officials said they could not confirm any involvement in either Sacco or Session’s cases while — or if — they are under investigation.
See some connections
Aubrey Sacco’s parents were notified by the U.S. Embassy in Nepal about the attack on Sessions.
The cases “absolutely could be connected,” Connie Sacco said.
Connie Sacco said she and her husband, Paul, have conducted much of the search for their daughter on their own. Otherwise, they would have to rely strictly on the regional police; U.S. authorities are careful not to get involved in the police efforts of other countries.
“We don’t know that she’s been murdered,” Connie Sacco said. “We don’t feel that she has — but we’re on our own; there’s no evidence.”
In May 2010, Paul Sacco traveled to the guest house where Aubrey Sacco was last seen. There he found her laptop, guitar and extra credit card.
The Saccos contacted Congress members and the FBI.
Sen. Mark Udall, D-colo., has trekked through Nepal himself, and it’s a popular destination for his constituents in the outdoors-centered town of Boulder, where Aubrey Sacco went to college.
“We’ve been in frequent contact with Aubrey’s family, (and) reached out to seek help from the State Department and the FBI numerous times on the Saccos’ behalf,” said Udall spokeswoman Jennifer Talhelm. “Mark shares their deep frustration and their concern about the latest incident.”
Sen. Michael Bennet, D-colo., and Rep. Cory Gardner, R-colo., have also helped with writing letters and contacting the embassy in Katmandu to try to keep the search alive, Connie Sacco said.
It has been difficult. The government in Nepal has changed — completely — since Aubrey Sacco disappeared.
Often, Connie Sacco said, the information that they give to the local police is not written down; it’s kept by memory.
And, she said, even the witnesses’ stories have changed from, “Yes, I saw her before she disappeared,” to, “Who knows? We see a lot of trekkers.”
‘Didn’t sense any danger’
Sessions has not been contacted by anyone since filing a police report in Nepal, she said.
After the attack, she learned from a guesthouse owner that Aubrey Sacco had been missing.
She trekked with three others back to Katmandu, where she went to the U.S. Embassy.
A diplomat helped her file her report with the local police, who appeared to take her story seriously, Sessions said.
The State Department did not issue any travel warnings, and, in fact, the embassy canceled a travel warning on Dec. 7 because strikes and fighting in the region had stabilized.
Sessions had been in an open area — and felt exposed to anyone watching for miles.
“I didn’t sense any danger,” said the Eugene, Ore., woman, who had been hiking through Nepal for about two months.
But danger was there. She considers herself lucky to have fought off her attacker.
“My hope is that, out of this, the national park will make an effort to be realistic about the situation in the park,” Sessions said. “I might have made some different decisions had I known.”