New Surveillance Footage Captures Images Of Amanda Eller Before She Went Missing On Hike On Maui
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- The search continues for Amanda Eller, a 35-year-old St. Mary's County woman who went missing on a hike on Maui last week.
New surveillance footage captured Eller the day before she was reported missing.
Footage showed Eller at a store around 10:11 a.m. buying a Mother's Day gift. She later mailed the gift at the post office. That is the last image of her.
At some point in the day, Eller drove to the Makawao Forest Reserve. Her locked car was found the next day when she was reported missing.
Inside her car officials found flip-flops, her purse and phone. Her keys were hidden under the front tire.
Sarah Haynes is leading a volunteer search effort to try and find Eller.
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"It's highly likely, based on evidence, that she began to enter the forest," Haynes said. "People saw her, right outside the parking lot going on the trail."
Eller's Mechanicsville family rushed to Maui. Fire and rescue crews used dogs, drones and helicopters before they called off their search.
"I think they've done everything they know they can do," Eller's father said. "I'm satisfied with that."
Hundreds of volunteers continue to search for her.
"We don't know if it's just a hiking injury or if there's foul play," Ben Konkol, Eller's boyfriend, said.
Konkol was the last person to see Eller Wednesday morning. He volunteered for -- and passed -- a lie detector test. Police said he's not a suspect, and they have no evidence of foul play.
"I hope she's in the forest, but if someone's taken her, we're not interested in you, we just want our daughter back," Eller's mother said.
Eller teaches yoga and has a Ph.D. in physical therapy. She also loves to hike and swim waterfalls.
Tuesday in St. Mary's County, people gathered to pray for her safe return.
"I just needed to do something or I would be hopeless," an attendee at the Gathering of Hop Vigil said.
Hope is what is keeping Eller's family going, and the search efforts continuing.
"We don't know if it's just a hiking injury or if there's foul play," Konkol said."Either way, she is in the forest and we're going to find her."
Eller's mother said that her daughter is very strong.
"That's going to serve her well in this particular situation," she said.
There is a GoFundMe page set up to help pay for the continued search. For more information, you can click here.
