A driver picked her up hitchhiking around 2:45 PM. She said she was going hiking on the Long Trail near Glastenbury Mountain. The driver dropped her off, and several people saw her hiking later that day. The last person to see her spoke with her around 4:00 PM. It got dark around 5:00 PM, and it started snowing heavily a few hours later.

Welden never returned to her dorm. Her roommate reported her missing the next morning. A huge search of the Long Trail found nothing. The search was difficult because Vermont didn’t even have a state police force at the time! Other states had to help.

Investigators first thought she’d gotten lost and died from the cold, but the lack of any trace of her led them to consider other possibilities. They looked into her life. She was a good student, but maybe a little unhappy; she was thinking about changing her major. However, her family said she wasn’t depressed enough to run away or kill herself, and she left all her belongings behind. There’s no proof she was harmed, but many believe she was murdered.

Paula was a talented artist and musician, loved hiking, and came from a family in Connecticut. Her father’s efforts helped lead to Vermont creating a state police force the following year. To this day, her disappearance remains a mystery.