Love and Loss: The Vanishing of Olga Mauger

 Love and Loss: The Vanishing of Olga Mauger

Olga Mauger seemed to disappear as quickly as she had fallen into the life of Carl Mauger. Known to some as Vlasta Fisher in her youth, Olga's whirlwind romance and recent marriage to Carl ended in swift tragedy in the Wyoming wilderness in the spring of 1935.

By all accounts, Olga was filled with regret and despair almost immediately after entering into marriage with Carl Mauger. Writing in Czech to her sister back home, Olga confessed she felt so distraught that she contemplated ending her own life. Perhaps she sensed something perilous ahead.

Olga had joined Carl on an elk scouting trip near Togwotee Pass outside the small town of Moran, Wyoming when she mysteriously vanished. At 5'5" to 5'9" tall with a slender build, flowing dark hair, and clad for the rugged terrain in leather boots, tan pants tied with a belt, and a small axe tucked into her waistband, Olga set out with Carl into the remote mountain wilderness on April 30th.

When Carl emerged from the woods without Olga days later, claiming he had left her to gather firewood only to have her disappear, authorities were suspicious of his story. An extensive search discovered no definitive sign of Olga beyond an empty sandwich bag near their camp. With Carl's story unchanged despite interrogation and Olga's body still missing, officials could only hold the widower for so long before releasing him.

In the over 35 years Carl had lived in northwest Wyoming working as a hunting guide and forest ranger, his credibility remained unquestioned by those who knew him. Yet whispers emerged that Olga may have discovered unsettling news about her new husband - including the longtime lover Ella Tschack he had broken things off with shortly before wedding Olga in a hurry.

Carl and Olga had known each other for several years, but only decided to marry in March 1935 before heading off from Evanston, Wyoming into the wilderness. Did Olga begin to suspect Carl had ulterior motives for their matrimony? Or had she simply ventured too far from camp and perished in an accident while foraging for firewood alone?

The mysteries compounded when a heavy snowstorm blew through days later, making further searching impossible for months. With the rugged terrain hiding any traces of Olga's fate, the truth of those final hours may be forever buried in the Wyoming wilderness that still hides its dead to this day. Yet the story of Olga Mauger remains etched into local legend - another bride who came to Togwotee in hope but instead vanished, joining the haunting tales of love, loss and suspicion that still linger under the towering pines.