Mysterious Stories Blog
Strange, disturbing and mysterious stories from the outdoors
The mysterious disappearance of Kat Hammontre in Diablo Canyon
Kat Hammontre, disappeared APRIL 11, 2019, Cañon del Diablo, Sierra De San Pedro Mártir National Park, San Felipe Desert, Baja California, Mexico.
Revised and expanded January 2025
On April 11, 2019, Katherine “Kat” Hammontre, 68, and her loyal dog Tootsie, took a hike through the beautiful landscape of Cañón del Diablo, or Devils Canyon, with six other hikers. The canyon is in the Sierra de San Pedro Mártir National Park, near San Felipe in Baja California, Mexico. The desolate beauty of the park, with its stunning pools and jagged cliffs, was the last place anyone would expect to lose someone without a trace.
Burdened by a recent foot injury, Kat decided to rest by a pool while the others continued without her. When they returned to the spot where Kat and Tootsie had once been, she was nowhere to be seen. The search that ensued swept every inch of the rugged terrain, covering miles in every direction, yet they found nothing—no sign of Kat, no paw prints of her dog.
How could a woman with three fractured toes and her faithful dog, in the 90°F heat, disappear without a trace? It was almost like the Cañón del Diablo had swallowed her up. Kat’'s disappearance five years on remains a complete mystery, and she remains missing with no clues.
Who was Kat Hammontre?
68-year-old Katherine Hammontree Sundquist was born in Seattle, Washington, but moved to San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico, in the late 1990s. She was always keen to move to Mexico. San Felipe is a coastal town located on the eastern shore of the Baja California Peninsula, about 125 miles south of the U.S.-Mexico border.
After going to a timeshare presentation, she managed to win a parcel of land just out of San Felipe. She eventually bought a property closer to the centre of the town, a few streets away from the ocean, with her then-boyfriend.
She worked as a paralegal in Washington but quickly decided to do something new in Baja. She opened up one of the first internet outlets in San Felipe called “The Net”, where people could come in and use the internet, send emails, and print materials. She also wrote a blog on a website called “Kat’s Corner” with information about San Felipe and reporting on San Felipe news. In addition to this, she began designing websites for local businesses like hotels and stores.
The locals called her “La Gata Loca”, the crazy cat, and she was very involved and liked in the community because of her eccentric style doing work with the Rotary Club and Las Amigas. The locals considered her one of their own as she spoke fluent Spanish and even got dual citizenship. She also taught English to Spanish children and Spanish to adults through two different classes.
In 2018, Kat had been diagnosed with liver cancer and had been receiving chemotherapy. The treatments had left her weak, although her daughter, Desiree Blair, described her mom as “a pretty tough chick”. The lesions on her liver were lasered off, and the medical staff believed that they had removed all the cancerous tissue, but they hadn’t. She had issues with alcohol in the past, but it was unclear whether she had relapsed in the period before going missing. Leading up to her disappearance, Desiree said that the last time they visited, she noticed the toll it was taking on her mother. At this time, she decided to discontinue getting further cancer treatment as she didn’t want to go through further chemo, deciding to let nature take its course.
The day she went missing was the first anniversary of getting married to her husband, Warren Sundquist. When Katherine relocated to San Felipe, she had been in a relationship with a man who later passed away. She met Warren when he volunteered at The Net, and they got to know each other. They had a relationship for two or three years before Marrying in 2018.
Warren had lived in San Felipe since the early 2000s after a career in the military with his then-wife. When Kat met him, Warren’s wife had died from cancer. Katherine decided to move in with him and had an ex-co-worker from The Net, Luis, move into her house in town to maintain and care for the property.
According to Desiree, she argued with Warren a few days before the hike in Cañón del Diablo, which ended up in them breaking up. Kat moved her belongings back to her house in town and was very upset. They spoke on the phone for the next day or two and decided to get back together because she didn't want it to end the way it had.
Kat Hammontre and Warren Sundquist
The circumstances behind the breakup were somewhat bizarre. Kat was at a neighbors house and had fallen asleep; Warren was not sure where she was as she hadn’t left a note to tell him. Warren felt disrespected and annoyed and, for reasons unknown, told her to move out. Desiree said, “I think there was more to that, a reason my mom went to the neighbors in the first place?”. They seemed to have resolved their differences before Kat disappeared and she was due to move back in with Warren, although most of her belongings hadn’t been moved back by this time.
Kat Hammontre and Warren Sundquist
The trip to Diablo Canyon
On April 11, 2019, Kat planned to hike with her husband and a group of people she knew through her friend Nicole. They had met a few years before and were visiting San Felipe to renew their wedding vows. They were together a few days before the hike, hanging out on the beach, and wanted to take one last scenic trip and do something together before leaving the area. They considered going to south Baja, down from San Felipe, but then Nicole suggested they go to the Cañon del Diablo (aka Devils Canyon) entrance in the San Pedro Mártir Sierra near San Felipe, in Baja California.
What is and where Is Cañon del Diablo?
Cañon del Diablo is perhaps one of San Felipe's least-known tourist attractions. This is not surprising because the terrain is challenging for vehicles to access, and there is no cell phone connection.
The stunning canyon is in the Sierra de San Pedro Mártir National Park, with waterfalls at the base of Baja’s highest 10,157 ft peak, Picacho del Diablo. Water from the peak of the San Pedro Mártir mountains flows down, forming clear water pools to enjoy in the canyon.
To reach the area, drive from San Felipe, Baja California, on mostly dirt roads for 33 miles to the trailhead. A 4x4 vehicle isn't necessarily needed, but you will cross a dry lake bed and sandy sections that can be difficult.
The trail starts in an area of giant Cardon Cactus (Pachycereus pringlei) and ascends a hill for 1/4 of a mile before the canyon begins. Watch for rock cairns and follow the footsteps left by previous hikers. Soon, you will see and hear the water. The water is crystal clear but extremely cold.
But the area is not without danger. Extreme temperatures and other factors mean travelers should be cautious. The United States advises Americans to “exercise extreme caution” when visiting the state of Baja California Sur due to high crime levels. According to a report by The Washington Post, more than 500 Americans are currently missing in Mexico.
The Hike in the Cañon del Diablo
Kat’s dog Tootsie
When Kat and Warren got to the canyon, Warren and Dave Coffer, Nicole’s husband, decided to stay behind with the vehicles because Dave’s truck was not running correctly. There were three vehicles: Warren's Jeep, Dave's truck, and Rick's truck. The area where the vehicles were parked was not a formal paved lot but just a dirt road with the rocks and boulders removed to clear an area.
There was some tension between Kat and Warren, especially as it was meant to be their anniversary, and Kat was hiking alone. After breaking up and getting back together, it would be expected that Kat and Warren would spend their special day together, but for reasons unknown, Warren wanted to stay in the Jeep, possibly because he had bad knees.
So Kat set off with Nicole Coffer, Kevin, Kim, Rick, Kelly Harris, and Dennis for the first set of pools on the hike to the waterfall at the top of the trail with her dog Tootsie.
After 10 minutes or so, at 10 am, she told the others she needed to rest. This was near one of the area’s beautiful pools of water, and it was ideal for Tootsie the dog to cool off. She wasn’t walking well because of the previous foot injury, which meant she had broken toes.
A week before the hike, Kat wrote in a blog post on April 5, 2019, “As some of you already know, I broke two toes on my right foot, and then today, a dude pulling an ice chest full of beer rolled over my left foot. No big deal on the left foot as I already had three broken toes. The right foot is throbbing as I write.” If Katherine had broken toes and difficulty walking, why would she go on a hike? But the family said she was stubborn and was probably determined to join the rest of the group that day.
She told the other hikers that she would wait for them to return from the short hike to the waterfall, around 90 minutes round trip. She sat down at the side of the pool with her dog, Tootsie, so it could play in the water and cool off. Nicole lit a cigarette for Kat, and the rest of the group continued to the waterfall. That would be the last time Kat was seen.
The group appeared unperturbed by Kat’s decision to stay behind alone. But it does beg the question, why would they leave Kat there? In the desert of Mexico or any other desert location, groups should never split up and leave someone behind. But perhaps the tranquillity of the spot and the company of a loyal dog meant they felt reassured she would be safe.
Cañon del Diablo pool
Cañon del Diablo pool
San Pedro Mártir Sierra
The disappearance and search
When the group returned about 90 minutes later, neither Kat nor her dog were anywhere to be found. The other members of the hiking group didn't panic. This place where she had stopped was close to the parking area where Warren and Dave had stayed behind to work on the truck.
They thought she must have returned to her husband, Warren Sundquist, who was waiting in a Jeep at the trailhead. But after heading back to the parking lot to check, she wasn't there either, and Warren hadn’t seen her. Desiree said, “They thought, oh, well, she probably just walked back down to the vehicles. When they got down to the vehicles and had asked Warren and Dave, well, where's Kat? Warren had said, well, I thought they were joking. Like, what do you mean where's Kat? She's supposed to be with you guys. And she goes, no, she wasn't there where we left her”. Then, the group began to really worry.
Kat reportedly showed no signs of extreme physical distress and wasn’t suffering from the 90°F heat. It was pleasant weather at that time of the year and was unlikely to cause hyperthermia quickly. It was certain that she could not have strayed far from her last known whereabouts due to poor health as a result of her previous history of cancer and her foot injuries.
Some of the group hiked back up, finding a small cave area that they searched. They also fanned out over the area trying to find Kat, and those that stayed back with the vehicles sounded their horns and called out. But they found nothing, and all the hikers returned to the vehicles. All except Warren then headed into town as there was no cellphone service in the canyon to try and get help. Once they got to Pete’s Camp, they got a cellphone signal and contacted the Mexican military, the Red Cross and many civilian searchers.
After Kat was reported missing by the group of hikers, local search-and-rescue crews and Mexican military helicopters searched the area from April 12. Unfortunately, no trace was found—neither of Kat nor Tootsie and the search was called off on April 15.
During the later part of the search and rescue, Naked and Afraid was being filmed in the same area where Kat went missing, meaning that the park area was off limits to everyone, including searchers, and they fenced up the location.
Volunteers, Mexicali Civil Protection personnel, the fire department, the army, the Red Cross, and five search and rescue dogs were involved. They searched about 3 miles (5km) around where Kat went missing, far further than they thought she could have reached on foot. INSAR, the Insa Nata Search and Rescue Organization volunteers spent hundreds of hours, and dozens of people volunteered to go to the canyon area and search on ATVs on foot to no avail.
When the cadaver dogs were taken to the canyon and surrounding area, it was a very windy day, and they never caught Kat’s scent.
While searching, Mexican law enforcement officials found and eradicated two marijuana grows 34 miles northwest of San Felipe.
The hiking group was questioned, but it is unclear if police believe that they had anything to do with her disappearance.
State Civil Protection Chief Antonio Rosquillas announced the search was being called off on Monday, April 15, 2019, only four days after Kat vanished. At that point, the case was turned over to the State Attorney General’s Office (PGJE). Rosquillas said, “We suspended the search. We combed the area surrounding the spot where she was last seen, a 5km perimeter, and we did not find her”.
On the night that Kat went missing, her husband Warren stayed at the trailhead parking lot while the others went to town to call the Red Cross and other groups to notify them that someone was missing up at the canyon. Warren was a bit older than Kat, and maybe he had been drinking throughout the day and fell asleep in his jeep that night. But it seemed unusual for him not to be heavily involved in the search effort immediately after the disappearance.
When Kat’s daughter, Desiree, arrived in San Felipe to aid in the search, it had already been called off, and when Warren and a group had come back from their search, he had shown her a picture of a cross he had made with sticks to put up at the trail at a memorial. She was disturbed that her husband was already saying she was dead when she had been gone for such a short time.
However, Warren was involved in the unofficial search after the authorities had called it off. He and a group of friends/volunteers went to search for Kat several times. Checking a nearby cattle ranch and the area between the canyon and the ranch, which appeared too far for Kat to reach, Warren spoke to the ranchers to let them know his wife and dog had gone missing. Unfortunately, they said they had not seen her or her dog.
The group also went to a location near the pot farm and tried to speak to a few standoffish and rude Haitian men. They did not want to answer any questions and didn't like that they were being questioned. It seemed very suspicious. However, the police had been there and searched the premises to no avail.
One of the other hikers, Kevin, who had a drone with little battery life, sent it up and around the area to see if they could see any signs of Kat. Because the mountains had received a bit more rain that season, the brush and plant life were more mature than usual, and it wasn't easy to see much in many of the areas. It would have been challenging to see Kat if she had curled up under a bush or taken shelter. It didn't help that her clothing was not suitable for desert conditions. She had a whitish tank top and khaki-coloured shorts and wore her K-swiss tennis shoes. She had recently dyed her hair a crimson red because of charity work she was supporting for breast cancer. Nonetheless, the drone found nothing despite her red hair.
After Desiree had to leave San Felipe to get back to her kids, she kept in touch with Warren, who would go to the Baja California State Attorney General (PGJE) and ask for any updates, but there never were. After a month or two, Warren stopped asking. They told him if something came up, they would let him know.
At that point, since the search was called off and the case was turned over to PGJE, it was largely forgotten about without constant pestering by family members. Detectives were put on cases only for a few months and then rotated, which didn’t help.
Family members were not proactively contacted; the primary person who spoke English was called, but they never got a reply.
Desiree said, “I felt like I was alone in this. Wanting to do so much more but couldn't do anything being that I lived so far away. I got the posters up around town and that produced nothing. I even experienced an attempt of extortion, getting text messages that they had my mom and demanded money for her return. It was an awful feeling, the initial rise of hope that she is alive to the devastation that I knew who was texting me these lies. The only person, besides Warren that had my new cell number turned out he is a con man that I guess had conned Nicole's mom two years prior for a few thousand dollars. I told Warren about it and told him to take the texts I saved that were sent to to me to the cops. I don't know but I don't think he ever did. He did know of the guy and told me, he and a few others went to this guy's place and confronted him about texting me. The guy was never arrested or even questioned. And when I tried to take it to our FBI, they told me to make a missing person's report, but since the guy is in Mexico, it’s out of their jurisdiction. It is illegal to extort someone in Mexico and the U.S. anyway. It made me pretty upset.”
After the official search was called off, a few groups involving Warren, friends and family continued searching. Warren had come across a small camp on one of these unofficial searches. One of the people in the group with him was ex-military, and he knew how to look for disturbed dirt and any signs that something or someone had just been buried. They had found a couple of spots and dug it up. But found nothing.
What happened to Katherine Hammontre?
This is a seriously mysterious case, as Kat and her dog Tootsie have not been found after several years. Not one piece of evidence has been located near where she went missing.
There was only a 90-minute gap between when she was left and when the group returned. How far could she have gotten in that time? Search and rescue teams searched further than she could have gone on foot, never mind that she had broken toes.
Possible theories:
Lost on the trail or misadventure
Perhaps Kat left the agreed-upon meeting spot on the trail because “nature called,” she wandered off to find a discreet place. Maybe the dog ran off for some reason, and she went off after it. But she would have been found during the search.
Did something happen when the group got to the pools? Are they all covering for each other? This scenario seems unlikely.
Kat’s daughter Desiree said, “Anyway, as I was saying, my mom knew not to wander. There are videos my mom took, I have them, and you can find them online, where she got lost in the desert, but she was in her sand buggy; she had a lighter, emergency water, and her cell phone to record the video, and an emergency blanket. The first video shows my mom narrating her being lost, building a fire, being conscious it wasn't too close to other shrubs, and not wanting to catch the mountainside on fire. Checking her surroundings, finding poo, from what she said, either coyote or mountain lions; she wasn't sure. She had said she wasn't scared; it was their territory, and she loved the desert and mountains.
She said this is where her soul heals. Anyway, she goes on to say she would make camp for the night and says if you're ever in the desert, stay put, don't wander because you will get even more lost. And says I know the sun rises in the east. Etc. But that she is directionally challenged. Lol. She said she would find her way in the morning, and she did.
One of the other videos shows her fire is burning, and she says she might just curl up in her Sharinga (dune buggy) as there are spiders and snakes. However, I don't think she slept much that night, if at all. She also says if I don't make it out of here, I love you, Desiree. It made me cry so much. I was so thankful she did make it out of there. She kept saying how beautiful it was out there. Anyway. That's how I know she knew not to wander. And really, how far could she have gotten? And what about the dog? I know that if she had died out there instinctively, dogs would stay with their owners as long as they can, or most do, I think, until they have to get water or food. Then, they will leave and search for water or food. But Tootsie has never been seen, either. She had a collar on but no leash.”.
A member of the hiking group, Kelly Harris, told investigators that when they were coming back down from the hike in the area of a cave, they had seen sticks made into an X and then another spot that was in a K. It appeared that the sticks had been placed very deliberately and that it was not there when they went up to the falls. This may have meant that Kat had indicated that she was heading down towards the cattle watering station from the farm or ranch down the road.
Strangely, Tootsie was never found. In other cases, missing persons with dogs often turn up later. But in this case, there was not a single sighting of Tootsie.
Abduction
Was Kat abducted off the trail as her hiking group was ahead? The area is very isolated; she would likely be seen if Kat returned to the parking lot. This would seem unlikely, given the isolated spot and number of people in the area. A woman being kidnapped by force would surely have been seen.
Kevin had said on their hike down from the falls, they had noticed some cattle towards a cattle ranch had moved, and there was a rusty-looking vehicle down there that they had not seen before. Warren had driven to the ranch to ask them if they had seen Kat. While driving out of there, they stopped and talked to the people in the vehicle, and they denied seeing anything and did not give the impression they were nervous or hiding anything.
Could somebody driving around in the area have seen her, and she hitched a ride to get somewhere, and something happened? It’s unlikely that someone was randomly in the area, and Kat would have needed to walk under duress to a vehicle quite a distance from the highway. An ATV or a horse would likely be needed, given the location.
Murder by a fellow hiker or Warren
Was Kat murdered by someone she knew or a stranger in a random attack? Was her body and her dog taken and quickly buried out there in the desert? Why would she be singled out? - perhaps her jewellery attracted a lone predator? Tootsie was not a good guard dog against an unexpected, unprovoked attack.
Because of the terrain in the area, someone could be 20-30 feet in front of you, and you would not be able to see them. If someone were watching the group, they would have never known it.
One of the hikers that had walked up the trail with Kat called Kevin, who was chatting and laughing with her, ended up killing himself just a few months short of the first anniversary of the disappearance.
According to Kevin’s daughter, coincidentally called Desiree, Kat’s disappearance was very upsetting because he felt that he might have prevented her from going missing if he had stayed behind with her. Kat’s daughter said, “ I told him via email, a month or two after Mom went missing, not to be too hard on himself. It's not his fault. I'm glad she had someone to walk with who was kind. “
Kat’s daughter reports that Warren’s home has security cameras around his porch and entrance to his house. In one video from just before the disappearance, Kat and Warren are seen going back and forth from the house to the jeep, bringing things for the trip. At one point you can hear Kat say,..."well if I get bit by a snake, don’t look for me cuz i won’t be there." Was there a message in this video? Did she mean that if something happens up there to her, they will make it so we can’t find her?
Did Kat return to the jeep at the parking lot, and something happened there? Was Warren, Dave or both involved?
What would his motive be? Kat had no life insurance policy, and the house deeds were in Desiree’s name. If Kat had returned to the parking area, where Warren and Dave were working on the truck, and something had happened, Dave would have to cover for Warren.
Warren's home was searched by the police, who did a DNA search of his vehicle and found no blood or DNA, and there was no sign of tissue under his fingernails or marks on his body indicating an altercation. They also took a laptop belonging to Kat, but the MacBook Pro security couldn’t be broken. They returned it to Warren, and many months later, Warren sent it to Desire Blair, hoping she could crack her password and get into it. However, living in Spokane, Washington, at the time, it was stolen from her home. She said, “ Having no info on the computer and no way to track it, I never got it back. I still am so very upset about it. It felt like my last and maybe only chance to see if there was a clue or something in that laptop to aid in finding her.“
Desiree said, “I don't think Warren is a killer. First, he has no motive; second, my mom may have had broken toes and cancer, but I know she would have fought tooth and nail to protect herself. I will say this: a number of years before her going missing, she took a survival class. She knew not to wonder; she knew the sun rose in the east and set in the west. She loved her dog Tootsie, but if she had run off, I don't think my mom would have pursued it too far. We know it wasn't an animal that got my mom, as there are mountain lions in that area because there was no blood or signs of an attack. But no dog poo from Tootsie was found either.”
The police dossier that Warren was sent included reports from the other hikers, except for Nicole, her husband, Dave, and Warren, who were questioned twice. Desiree said, “Everybody's statement that was on the hike that day, except for Dave, Nicole and Warren. All the other people's statements were not in the police report. I didn't see them anywhere. I don't know if Warren took them out or if they were ever even in the police report when Warren got his copy. And so I found that upsetting. But I also noticed there was a page that one of the detectives had written that said fake tears on one of the pages for Warren's statement. I guess. I mean, at some point, I understand because you put so much effort into finding your loved one and point where you have to say, okay, there's nothing more I can do, I have to continue to live my life.”
Animal attack
Is it possible that Kat and Tootsie were attacked by a wild animal, leaving no trace behind? There are snakes, coyotes and mountain lions in the area. The latter are rare, and coyotes are unlikely to attack with a dog around.
There would be signs of a struggle, drag marks, blood, dog hair and torn clothing. But nothing was discovered of that nature.
Intentional disappearance
Perhaps Kat headed back to the parking lot alone with the dog, was picked up by someone, and left the area voluntarily to start a new life.
Kat didn't have her bank card or passport, so if she were planning on leaving Warren and not returning, this would leave her with significant issues.
According to the family, this scenario seemed very remote.
Self-harm
Perhaps Kat harmed herself? Perhaps she wasn’t s going to let the cancer kill her as she didn’t want any more chemotherapy. But where is Kat if she committed suicide, never mind the dog?
Alien abduction or a portal
There have been many reports of UFO activity in that area. Perhaps an alien abduction is a possibility, although highly unlikely. Some speculate that she entered a portal and disappeared into another parallel universe.
She wasn’t on the hike that day
Perhaps Kat wasn’t in the area at all. Some have speculated that the hike never happened. This would mean everyone in the group was covering up, which seems unlikely. Kat's hiking group showed a picture to the authorities, including Kat and the shadow of Tootsie.
Exclusive articles for members of StrangeOutdoors that are not available elsewhere on the site.
Further listening and viewing
The Vanished Podcast: January 6, 2025 EPISODE 470: Katherine Hammontre Sundquist
Locations Unknown EP. #44: Kat Hammontre - Diablo Canyon - Mexico (Live)
Read other strange stories from StrangeOutdoors
Sources
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/search-under-way-for-seattle-woman-who-went-missing-during-hike-in-mexico/#:~:text=Kat%20Hammontre%2C%20a%20Nathan%20Hale,daughter%2C%20Desiree%20Blair%20of%20Spokane.
https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/san-felipe-kat-hammontre-search-missing-american-mexico/81432/
https://www.websleuths.com/forums/threads/mexico-kat-hammontre-68-us-citizen-baja-california-11-april-2019.437573/
https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/search-continues-for-woman/
https://themazatlanpost.com/2019/04/16/search-for-missing-american-expat-from-san-felipe-in-devils-canyon-suspended/
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6934805/Fears-grow-American-hiker-68-missing-Baja-California-Mexico.html