A 33-year-old North Carolina woman, missing since late 2024, has been located alive in Colorado nearly nine months after vanishing and sparking a major search across multiple states.
Her disappearance unfolded when her white 2009 Chevrolet HHR with North Carolina plates was discovered abandoned in early February 2025 at a remote desert location known as “Slab City,” just off Highway 190 near California’s Death Valley National Park. The vehicle, registered to the woman, was found on private property often used by seasonal campers. No sign of her was detected at the scene during an initial local search.
The Inyo County Sheriff’s Office launched a full-scale investigation involving park rangers, drone surveillance, cadaver dogs, certified trackers, and volunteer teams. Despite exhaustive ground and aerial searches through June, no evidence of her whereabouts emerged.
The woman’s family formally reported her missing in November 2024 after the last known contact occurred during an interaction with law enforcement in Utah. Authorities only confirmed her missing status after reaching out to her mother.
On July 22, 2025, the Inyo County Sheriff’s Office announced she had been discovered alive in Colorado, ending a long and perplexing chapter. No additional details about her health, circumstances, or whereabouts during the missing period have been released, out of consideration for her and her family’s privacy.