The disturbing death of Katherine Wong at the Bear Valley Ski Resort

January 3, 2018 StrangeOutdoors

Dr Katherine Wong, Disappeared February 19, 1999. Remains found June 10, 1999, Bear Valley Ski Resort, California.

Revised July 2024

Dr. Katherine Wong, 48, lived in Milpitas, a city in Santa Clara County, California, in Silicon Valley. She was a San Jose pediatrician who mysteriously disappeared from the Bear Valley Ski Resort south of Lake Tahoe in California.

Dr. Wong had gone skiing with her husband, 52-year-old pediatric dentist John Wong, two relatives, and two of her three children, a 9-year-old daughter and a 13-year-old son. She was an intermediate-level skier and visited California's ski resorts regularly.

Four months later, Katherine’s body finally turned up.

Katherine Wong’s trip to Bear Valley Ski Resort

Katherine Wong was last seen on February 19, 1999, at the Bear Valley ski resort south of Lake Tahoe. It is on Highway 4 between Lake Tahoe and Yosemite in the Central Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. It is a family-friendly resort accommodating skiers and riders of all levels and abilities. It has over 75 trails, 1,680 skiable acres, and 1,900 feet of vertical drop, all serviced by ten lifts. It was the family's first visit to Bear Valley, as they had heard it was one of the quieter resorts.

Katherine ate lunch with the group at about 11.30 am and skied for the next few hours with her husband whilst the kids went with their adult cousin.

About 3.45 pm, Katherine took a ski lift up the mountain with her husband, but then they separated, and she took a different path down using the Mokelumne West Run, an intermediate slope. When John reached the bottom of the slope, his wife was nowhere to be seen. Dr. Wong was wearing a light gray jacket, light blue pants, and ski boots when she disappeared. She had black hair and brown eyes, was 5 feet 4 inches tall, and weighed 118 pounds.

The search for Katherine Wong

John and their son looked for Katherine for about 30 minutes and then notified resort officials that she had gone missing. The Alpine County Sheriff's Department and Bear Valley ski patrols searched for her with two helicopters, ten winter-trained dog teams, and about 50 search experts from nearly a dozen law enforcement agencies.

Two days later, the search was called off. A winter storm brought in heavy snow, and officials told the family that the chances of surviving such a storm were slim to none. After such a significant search for Katherine, the authorities believed she may have met with foul play or left the resort. ''There are no tracks going out, except for animal tracks,'' Deputy Sheriff Matt Streck said. ''But if she's here, she's not able to respond to us.''

John Wong and the rest of the family were interviewed. He voluntarily took a lie detector test, and authorities subsequently confirmed that he was not a suspect. He confirmed that Katherine was a cautious skier, and after over twenty years of marriage, he believed it was highly unlikely she had run off with another man, especially leaving her children behind. John complained that officials gave up too soon in the initial search for his wife.

The FBI helped detectives review surveillance tapes. FBI spokesman George Grotz said, "Absent evidence of foul play or possible interstate aspects, we will not be involved (further). We've discussed it with them and can assist when asked."

The Alpine County Sheriff's Department interviewed ski lift operators and other employees who may have seen Katherine that day. Although credit card receipts prove that she did purchase lift tickets at Bear Valley on February 19th, ski lift operators did not recall seeing anyone fitting her description. A review of surveillance tapes from the ski resort did not show anything suspicious.

Deputy Matt Streck of the Sheriff's Department said the initial search for Wong was one of the most comprehensive operations he has seen in years. Streck said, "I've personally hiked miles and miles myself since this happened." Streck found it unusual that searchers have not found any signs of the doctor at the ski area. "I think as time goes by, it will become more evident that this was not a ski accident. But I have no proof of that."

Discovery of Katherine Wong’s remains

On June 10th, 1999, Katherine's body was eventually found, around four months after she went missing. She was found in a steep ravine, in a heavily wooded canyon half-mile south of the ski area and marked trails. Bone fragments and pieces of hair were found scattered over a quarter-mile square area together with a ski lift ticket, driver's license, and bank credit card belonging to Katherine. A parka, ski pants, boots, a wristwatch, skis and ski poles and other personal effects were also located.

Why did Katherine End up where she did after skiing the Mokelumne West Run?

Investigators were baffled how she came to be in the area where her remains and personal effects were found since the ravine is well outside the ski resort, in a remote area about 400 yards away from a group of homes. Police found no evidence of foul play and believed it was an unfortunate accident when Katherine became lost and hypothermic.

Searchers had not bothered to look earlier in the area where the bone fragments were found because it was considered highly unlikely that Katherine would have ventured there since it was in an area that would be difficult to reach by accident. Also, shortly after she disappeared, the area was covered by eight feet of snow. But the fact that it was not searched confirmed John Wong's complaints about the thoroughness of the initial search, though recent snow melting had made the ravine more accessible.

Because of the dispersal and scarcity of the bones, investigators speculate that wild animals may have disturbed Wong's body after her death.

Another man, Tom Mullarkey, died in the same resort in 2018 after getting lost. The disappearance and death of Thomas Mullarkey at the Bear Valley Ski Resort

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