Five years after the disappearance of Julián Herrera and his nine-year-old daughter Clara, the mountains seemed to have claimed them forever.
Their case dominated headlines in 2020, after what should’ve been a short, harmless hike in the French Pyrenees ended in silence. As months passed with no leads, no sightings, and not a single trace, the official search was quietly shut down. The family held on to the fragile hope that maybe just maybe – Julián had selected to begin over somewhere far away. Others muttered the more likely theory: an unseen fall in some unreachable corner of the range.
For years, nothing stirred.
Until late August, when a Catalan couple exploring a rarely traveled path near Roland’s Breach noticed something that disrupted the monotony of the gray rock. The man crouched, aimed his phone flashlight into a narrow crack, and froze.
“…It’s a backpack,” he said, barely touching it.
His partner brushed dust from a faded label. The moment she read the name, both felt their stomachs drop.
– Julián Herrera.
Their discovery sparked an immediate response. Photos were sent to the gendarmerie, and within hours a helicopter dropped a specialized rescue team onto the site.
Captain Morel who had helped search for Julián and Clara five years earlier opened the backpack with gloved hands. Inside were a dented water bottle, scraps of food, a wrinkled map… and something that chilled him instantly:
Clara’s blue notebook.
Recognized by the entire country during the original investigation.
The media storm reignited. Journalists crowded the access roads. The family braced themselves for answers they weren’t sure they wanted.
But the mountain was not ready to cooperate.
The crevice was only fifty centimeters wide, plunging deep into the rock and stretching far above. Some believed Julián might’ve tried to descend somewhere nearby—searching for shelter or a shortcut—and accidentally trapped himself and Clara.
Yet Morel found inconsistencies from the start. The backpack showed little damage. And the map had a fresh pen marking something that hadn’t appeared on the original copies examined in 2020.
“This doesn’t make sense,” he muttered. “If Julián marked this after they got lost… why?”
The reopened investigation quickly became a labyrinth.
And the next morning, descending deeper into the crevice, the team found something that rewrote the case entirely.
At dawn, rescuers began their descent. The crevice swallowed their ropes and light. Eight meters down, they discovered a shred of red fabric – part of Julián’s jacket but it wasn’t torn from a fall. It had been ripped, as if left intentionally.
“He was marking his path,” Morel said. “He was trying to be found.”
Three meters lower lay the second anomaly: a metallic food wrapper with an expiration date two years after the disappearance.
“Could someone have stayed down here?” one technician murmured.
“Or someone found Julián and Clara,” Morel replied. “And said nothing.”
The crevice soon widened into an irregular pocket of space. There, under layers of dust, lay remnants of a makeshift camp: a thermal blanket, an empty can, rope fragments—and, soaking in a corner, another notebook.
Many pages were ruined, but some words survived: “can’t get up,” “wait,” “injured,” “we hear voices.” The handwriting appeared to be Julián’s.
One line froze the entire team:
“I can’t move. She must stay…”
It ended abruptly.
“Julián was hu:rt,” Morel said softly. “And Clara… she was still alive.”
But neither body was present.
Even more unsettling: someone had been counting days. Three vertical scratches repeated over and over lined the wall.
At least thirty marks.
A month trapped.
As pressure mounted, the search expanded. And then, a fresh twist emerged: a modern rope, recently placed, belonging to no one involved – neither the victims nor the rescue teams.
“Someone else was here,” Morel said, staring into the silent stone.
The mountain wouldn’t answer.
But the following day, something finally did.
The third day proved pivotal. Far above the cave, in a steep vertical passage, searchers found faint footprints—recent ones. Too recent to belong to anyone from five years earlier. And too light to be an adult’s.
A few hours later, buried under loose stones, they uncovered a small star-shaped pendant. Clara’s favorite. The one she never took off.
Then came the discovery that silenced the entire ridge.
On a ledge hidden by dry brush lay a metal first-aid kit, rusted but deliberately placed. Inside were bandages, bits of medication… and a carefully folded note sealed in plastic.
Morel opened it. The shaky handwriting was unmistakably Julián’s:
“If anyone finds this, help her. It wasn’t her fault. He came back, but he wasn’t the same. We couldn’t get down. We tried calling out. If Clara is alive… please take care of her.”
“He came back.”
Who?
The family drew their own conclusion. Prior to the disappearance, Julián had clashed with a former expedition partner – Aitor – who had publicly accused him of stealing a joint photography project. Their breakup had been bitter and public.
Investigators uncovered that Aitor had been in the Pyrenees the same week Julián vanished – something he never disclosed.
Meanwhile, teams uncovered a narrow exit at the upper end of the crevice, leading into a remote wooded zone. Hidden under leaves, they found a crude old campsite: a fire pit, a rust-stained knife, scattered food wrappers.
And among them, the most heartbreaking find yet: A small shoe. Clara’s. Along with scraps of her clothing.
But no bones.
She hadn’t di:ed there.
“This changes everything,” Morel said. “They made it out. With help—or under someone’s control.”
The investigation ultimately revealed that shepherds had indeed seen Aitor in the area. One scenario grew stronger: that he encountered Julián and Clara after the accident, confronted Julián about their personal feud, and escalated the situation until the adults were separated—leaving Clara exposed and terrified.
Aitor was detained but denied everything. He insisted he’d tried to bring help, only to return and find them gone.
Yet the most agonizing question remains:
Where is Clara now?
Search teams combed the mountains for weeks. Scattered traces surfaced but never a body. Authorities now believe Clara might have been taken in by someone in an isolated village… or tried to walk on her own toward safety.
Five years later, the case remains open.
The mountain has revealed many secrets but not the one that matters most.
Clara could still be alive.
