Missing mum, 41, found dead inside hammock during camping trip in Alabama forest - two months after she disappeared

On Wednesday (4 December) the Alabama Department of Forensic Science confirmed the deceased body had been found by a hunter in Talladega National Forest on November 30 which belonged to Vendula Wendy Rose. The Walmart employee and Czech Republic native, 41, set off for a solo camping trip on September 20, but when she did not arrive back to her home in Marysville on October 2, her loved ones grew worried.

Before she left, she called her family and friends and told them that she was going hiking, adding that she would be “leaving some personal belongings in a safe deposit box at her bank” and that she also “left her work keys with her employer”, according to police. According to a timeline released by the Cleburne County Sheriff's Department, Rose made it from Ohio to Alabama that same day - about a 10 hour drive - where she “hiked that portion of the Pinhoti Trail” located in the Dugger Mountain area of Cleburne and Calhoun County.

Three days later she made her way to South Carolina before driving back to Alabama late the following day, where camera footage captured her “making a purchase at a business” before exiting alone in Oxford. She was reported missing on October 4 after failing to show up for work.

Police located her car at the Pinhoti Trail Head, where “an immediate search of the park was conducted” including the use of K9 teams, multiple law enforcement agencies, fire departments, and rescue squads. Authorities searched her vehicle which contained “multiple notes that were deemed as abnormal for Rose unless she was having a mental health crisis” as well as “a box of ammunition missing seven rounds”.

Rose's cause of death has not yet been released, but at the time police said they had “no evidence that would lead us to believe that there is any foul play suspected in this case” adding that they think she was “suffering a mental health crisis”. Her daughter, Dana Rose, posted several pictures of Rose and said: “This is my mom. She’s stubborn, frustrating, innovative, smart, silly, and, in true motherly fashion, one of the most important people in my life.

“She is missing from me in the Talladega forest area, but that doesn’t mean she didn’t travel to the Appalachian Trail area. PLEASE if you see her or know anything, call your local police department and give them information about Vendula Rose. I love you mom, and I hope you’re safe.”

Sheriff Jon Daniel with the Cleburne County Sheriff's Department thanked everyone who helped find Rose, adding that he will keep her family in his prayers. He said: “I would like to ask each of you who have watched this case and shared the updates along the way to continue to pray for this family as well”.