What happened to Christine Walters?
Christine Walters, a 23 year old botany and ethnobotany student at the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point, set out for a trip to Portland, Oregon to visit a friend during the summer of 2008. She wouldn’t return home to Wisconsin, and in fact, would never be found. Christine, along with 4 other missing women that have been labeled “The Humboldt Five,” would vanish in California’s Emerald Triangle: an area in the northern part of the state famous for growing marijuana.
What was originally supposed to be a two week trip to Oregon turned into a more permanent move for Christine, who decided to take a leave from her studies at the University of Wisconsin and remain on the west coast. She moved to Humboldt County, CA in September 2008. There is very little information about Christine’s life in California; however, her mother and other friends and family in Wisconsin reported that her calls became less frequent, and being without consistent work, she would often ask for money. Her mother reported a series of concerning phone calls in the months leading up to her disappearance, and her requests to return home to Wisconsin were returned with “I’m not ready yet.”
Christine had a genuine love and admiration for the natural world and California’s landscape. Having taught yoga and Pilates in Wisconsin, Christine’s passion for the environment and living naturally would also bring her to the Green Life Evolution Center. Now defunct, the center was known for its environmentalism and promotion of living a natural, vegan life. On November 7th, Christine would attend a “tea ceremony” or “cleansing ceremony” sponsored by the Center. A private investigator later hired by the family learned that Christine and others at the ceremony had ingested ayahuasca, a South American psychoactive. Known for its potential to invite "spiritual revelations," negative physical side effects can include nausea, tremors, and vomiting.
Four days later, on November 11th, Christine appears naked and disoriented on a couple’s porch in rural Arcata, CA. While Christine has scratches all over her body and is severely dehydrated, she also appears extremely paranoid and confused. From this point forward, eyewitness accounts remark on Christine’s unusual behavior. Unfortunately, it is unclear if Christine’s paranoia began directly following the tea ceremony, or had been developing over several weeks or months.
The couple calls the police and Christine is taken to a nearby hospital where she becomes evasive and refuses to answer questions about her injuries. Instead, she reports that she has “walked a long way” and that “demons … were trying to get her.” She is released and taken to the Red Lion Inn, where she calls her mother several times and repeats the same concerns about being followed.
On November 14th, Christine is seen for the last time while visiting a copy center. Having lost her ID, her mother faxes relevant documents to the copy center for Christine. It’s her mother’s hope that she will be able to book a flight home once she has acquired a new ID. It’s also reported by some sources that her father wires her $1,000.00 at this point, which remains untouched in her bank account. At the copy center, Christine appears disheveled and acts paranoid; she repeatedly looks over her shoulders, and asks for directions to a DMV approximately one mile from the copy center. She is never seen nor heard from again, and is reported missing by her family on November 17th, 2008.
Later, Christine’s missing backpack – with her identification and cash – is located at Green Life Evolution.
If you know anything about the disappearance of Christine Walters, please contact the Eureka Police Department at (707) 441-4060 or the Humboldt County Sheriff's Office at (707) 445-7251.
