When two Seattle hikers vanished in the summer of 2020, their disappearance seemed, at first, like another tragic case of lost adventurers. Amanda Langley, 29, and Daniel Hughes, 31, were young, experienced hikers and popular outdoor vloggers who had built an online following documenting trails across Washington State. They were responsible, careful, and always kept detailed travel plans. Nothing about their trip to Olympic National Park suggested danger.

But five years later, when a drone survey team uncovered their remains in a remote section of the forest, the discovery shattered every assumption investigators once held. What was found beside their bodies — and later inside them — revealed a crime so calculated it blurred the line between scientific curiosity and human cruelty.

The Disappearance

Amanda and Daniel left Seattle on June 5, 2020, planning a short weekend trip to film trail footage for their YouTube channel. The couple’s last social media post, uploaded that evening, showed an overgrown dirt path captioned: “We left the trail and found an old road to the lake. It’s wildly beautiful.”

By June 8, neither had returned home. Their phones were off, and calls went unanswered. When family members contacted police, a search was launched across Olympic National Park. Their car — a blue Subaru Outback — was found locked at the trailhead, still packed with food and supplies.

Search teams combed the forest for weeks, using dogs, drones, and helicopters. Yet not a single trace was found. Their disappearance became one of Washington’s most puzzling unsolved cases.

The Trackcore Connection

Detectives soon learned that days before their trip, Amanda had received an email from a company called Trackcore Systems, offering free GPS devices in exchange for a product review. The message came from an employee named Owen Sans, who introduced himself as a technical specialist.

Sans met the couple at a Seattle café to explain how the devices worked — compact satellite trackers supposedly capable of transmitting coordinates without cell service. He offered to accompany them to the park to ensure the devices worked properly.

On June 5, surveillance footage showed Amanda and Daniel meeting Sans in the park’s north entrance lot. He appeared friendly and professional, helping them set up the devices. He later told police that he left after an hour. But what happened next would later prove that wasn’t true.

Five Years of Silence

For half a decade, the case lay dormant. No new leads surfaced. Amanda’s parents hired private investigators, who found nothing. The YouTube channel froze in time, its last upload dated May 2020 — a review of a hiking stove.

Then, in March 2025, a landslide in the northern section of Olympic National Park exposed part of a ravine long covered by trees. A drone operator photographing the area noticed what looked like two figures sitting at the base of large trunks. Rangers were dispatched. What they found reopened one of the Pacific Northwest’s darkest mysteries.

The Discovery

Two skeletons sat upright against trees, wrists bound behind them with industrial black tape. Clothing remnants, backpacks, and a shattered action camera lay nearby. One backpack bore the initials “A.L.” DNA confirmed the remains were Amanda and Daniel.

The immediate assumption was that they had been restrained and left to die. But the most shocking revelation came during the forensic exam.

Inside each of their shoulder blades, pathologists found small polymer capsules containing RFID-based transmitters. Each bore the logo of Trackcore Systems — the same company that had supplied their GPS devices.

From Missing Persons to Murder Investigation

Detectives reopened the 2020 case, focusing on Owen Sans. The company’s management quickly distanced itself, stating that the trackers Amanda and Daniel received were unauthorized prototypes — experimental implants never meant for public use. Internal documents showed that Sans had taken the devices without permission, using his personal email to contact the couple.

When questioned, Sans insisted he only gave them wearable trackers, not implants. But inconsistencies mounted. Forensic analysis matched the serial numbers of the implants to those from the company’s prototype logs. A search of his home uncovered identical black tape, medical gloves with traces of Amanda’s DNA, and a hard drive containing deleted GPS logs — showing the victims’ movements until the night of June 8, 2020.

Recovered GoPro footage showed Sans hiking behind the couple, contradicting his claim that he left early. The last clip ended abruptly after his voice was heard saying, “We’ll test stability during stillness.”

The Arrest and Trial

On April 20, 2025, Owen Sans was arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree murder, kidnapping, and illegal human experimentation. Prosecutors alleged that Sans had implanted the devices himself, likely under the pretense of “advanced testing.”

Experts determined that the implantation could have been done quickly, using a modified injector similar to those used for animal microchips. It is believed that Sans convinced the couple to allow it, telling them it was part of a temporary and safe test. Once deep in the forest, he restrained them to trees, intending to monitor the transmitters’ signals over several days.

Sans later claimed in court that he “never meant to kill them,” insisting he only wanted to collect data. The jury rejected that explanation. Evidence showed he monitored the GPS logs for three days, fully aware the victims had stopped moving — and did nothing to save them.

Verdict and Aftermath

In November 2025, the jury found Sans guilty on all charges. He was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences without parole and ordered to pay restitution to the victims’ families.

The verdict closed a case that had haunted the Pacific Northwest for half a decade — but it left lasting questions. Why did a seemingly ordinary technician cross such a line? Was it pure obsession, or something darker beneath the surface?

Psychological evaluations described Sans as an intelligent but detached perfectionist obsessed with “real-world data.” His notes spoke of “field tests” and “immobility analysis,” showing a fixation that blurred ethics and empathy. Investigators found no evidence of additional victims, but many believe the truth may still be incomplete.

A Cautionary Legacy

The deaths of Amanda Langley and Daniel Hughes stand as a stark reminder of the risks hidden behind trust and technology. They were creative, passionate, and adventurous — the kind of people who inspired others to explore the world.

Instead, they became unwilling participants in a human experiment disguised as innovation.

Their story has already influenced new ethical guidelines for testing biometric devices in the U.S. tech industry. But for their families, no regulation or sentence can replace what was lost.

As Amanda’s mother said outside the courthouse, “They went into the woods to capture beauty — and someone turned it into horror.”