Scarlett Salice

Status:

Open

Missing From:

Todtmoos, Germany

Summary:

Scarlett Salice was a 26-year-old German woman who disappeared on September 10, 2020, from a supermarket in Todtmoos in the southern Black Forest while on a solo hiking trip. Her mother filed a missing person report on September 12, 2020.

Vital Statistics

Circumstances of Disappearance:

Scarlett wanted to complete a six-day, approximately 120-kilometer hiking tour on the Schluchtensteig alone, driving by car to Stühlingen where the entrance to the tour is located, and setting out on the first of six stages carrying a conspicuous backpack and being seen by many other hikers. The last confirmed sighting of Scarlett was a photo from a supermarket in Todtmoos near St. Blasien, where she bought water around 10:10 a.m. She had WhatsApp and video telephone contact with family until 10:48 a.m., after which she was no longer reachable.

Additional Details:

During her tour, Scarlett stayed in youth hostels and camped out for financial reasons, and always kept in touch with friends and family via her cell phone, reporting on her further progress on the tour. A large-scale search operation with police, mountain rescue, fire department, helicopters, drones, and dog teams remained unsuccessful. The German crime television program "Aktenzeichen XY... ungelöst" reported on the case. Two and a half years after her disappearance, the death investigation proceedings were discontinued as there were no police indications of a criminal act. The missing person case remains open, with three to four new tips arriving monthly at the Freiburg Police Headquarters on average, totaling more than 640 so far. Since 2023, police investigations have been suspended and the case is officially classified as a cold case. Six years after Scarlett's disappearance, search dogs alerted multiple times at a rock formation in the Wehratal during a search organized by the "Finderwille" group, with the dogs picking up scent from three pairs of shoes her father Ralf Salice had preserved all those years. A reward of 100,000 euros is posted, and thousands of members engage in a Facebook group, with volunteers repeatedly searching with metal detectors, drones, and climbing equipment. Scarlett grew up with her older sister and her parents in Paderborn; she was active in animal protection, protested against whaling in Iceland, and was vegan; after an apprenticeship in social security, she decided to catch up on her high school diploma and lived in Bad Lippspringe, loving to travel and recording her adventures on social media.

Case Last Updated:

Sep 22, 2026