Daniel left for work early in the morning, on Monday, September 3, 2018, from his mother's house in Glendale, Arizona. His vehicle was later found abandoned on Saturday, September 8, 2018 at Tonto National Forest, approximately 2 miles north of the Seven Springs camping area.

Gallegos left her father’s Lakeside, Arizona residence on May 20, 2010. She got into a vehicle with two men, one of whom was Jacob Mata, and they went to Phoenix, Arizona to purchase heroin.

After the group bought the heroin, one of the men left and another woman joined Gallegos and Mata. They were on the way to Show Low, Arizona on State Route 87, when they got lost and ended up on a Forest Service road in the White Mountain Apache Forest.