Erika Lloyd Walnut Creek missing California mother vanishes two days after setting out on Joshua Tree road trip to get away from coronavirus strain. Woman’s missing car found with smashed windows.
A California mother who’d gone on a solo road trip to Joshua Tree National Park in June remains missing after seemingly vanishing two days into her travels as she sought to escape the strain of the ongoing coronavirus.
Erika Lloyd, 37, mother of a 12-year-old son, set out from Walnut Creek for the roughly 500-mile road trip on June 14, only to lose touch with her family two days later according to KESQ.
‘Being [on] lockdown for almost three months, not being able to work and she was trying to home school her son, it was starting to get to her — the pressure and not having any income,’ Erika’s mom, Ruth Lloyd told via KESQ over the weekend.
The same day Erika’s family lost touch with her, authorities found her abandoned 2006 black Honda Accord near the park on California’s State Route 62 in Twentynine Palms, according to California Highway Patrol.
The car’s dashboard was damaged and several windows broken, the San Bernardino County Sentinel reported, leading family members to believe Erika may have gotten into an accident.
#UPDATE: San Bernardino Sheriff’s department says they’ve found no signs of foul play after searching missing Walnut Creek woman, Erika Lloyd’s car. https://t.co/vlfycAQezz
— Dani Romero (@KESQdani) July 7, 2020
No sign of foul play
More than a month later, her family wonders if she’d wandered off after being injured in a crash.
‘We don’t know if she had some memory loss when she got hit by the airbag,’ Ruth told KESQ.
‘Maybe she doesn’t know who she is, we don’t know. We aren’t sure about her mental state.’
Of note, Erika Lloyd deleted her Facebook account before leaving for Joshua Tree National Forest, according to The San Bernardino County Sentinel.
Erika’s family said they hired a local cave and mine expert to help with the search.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help cover the costs of the search efforts. Come Monday evening just on $9,100 had been raised as the mother of one remained missing.
The California Highway Patrol asked that anyone with information on Erika Lloyd call the Walnut Creek Police Department at (925) 935-6400 or the Morongo Basin CHP office at (760) 366-3707.
