Skeletal remains found in southern California have been positively identified as missing 37-year-old Walnut Creek resident Erika Lloyd, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office.
On Sunday, January 31, 2021, deputies from the Morongo Basin Sheriff’s Station responded to the report of possible human remains located in a desert field in Wonder Valley. Upon arrival, deputies confirmed the remains to be human.
Detectives from the Specialized Investigations Division responded to the location and retrieved partial skeletal remains.
A Forensic Odontologist was able to identify the victim by using her dental records. The cause and manner of death are undetermined.
On June 17, 2020, Erika Ashley Lloyd was reported missing by her family. She was believed to be traveling to the Joshua Tree National Park and was last seen in person on Sunday, June 14 in Walnut Creek. Deputies, Search and Rescue volunteers, Sheriff’s Aviation, and Park Rangers from the Joshua Tree National Park conducted numerous search operations in the weeks and months following her disappearance.
The investigation is ongoing, and anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Michael Gardea, Specialized Investigations Division – Homicide Detail at (909)387-3589. Callers can remain anonymous and contact WeTip at 800-78CRIME or www.wetip.com.
A whole life ahead of her….so sad.
So sad to hear the outcome of this and for her family.
Hoping the Family gets answers on what happened.
very sad, condolences to the family
and a warning to young people, and all people everywhere, know who you are visiting/traveling with
Father God, please comfort Erika’s family and friends at this time and heal them with your love. Such sad news and all hopes for a better outcome gone, I hope this family can heal from this tragedy. Sending love to them. I say these words in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Amen! Thanks LL for sending this prayer and giving the readers the opportunity to do the same.
This is tragic news. So very, very sad. Prayers lifted to her family and friends.
Isn’t it great that California makes it so hard to obtain concealed carry license . If I were a women going places solo and hiking I would want protection but they make it so hard to get a license for concealed carry here in California.
She could have protected herself and a much better headline could have been “woman kills attacker in southern California desert” but instead she ended up becoming a victim unable to defend herself.
Why are you assuming she was murdered? Lots of way to die in the desert.
Rest in Peace Erika. Erika leaves a 12-year old son behind. He’s now with his dad.
I dug into this a bit and it’s a strange story. There seem to be three dead people including one, James Escalante, who apparently was on his way to help Erika whose car was stuck in the sand. Via a three way phone call Escalante asked Erika to honk her horn. He heard the honks and set off in her direction on a bicycle. He was found dead in the desert near his bike. While hunting for him sheriffs found both him and another body somewhere in the area.
While that looks like foul play it appears Erika accidentally drove into a ditch with the impact being hard enough that she smashed in the bottom of the radiator plus an airbag went off. She may have tried to walk back to the campground where she had been staying but went in the wrong direction. Escalante’s death is more of a puzzle as he was a local and should have had his bearings.
What a tragedy. I can’t imagine how the family is taking it. RIP.
The SoCal desert is serious stuff. I grew up in SoCal and went to the desert quite often to ride dirt bikes and shoot guns. In the summer it’s brutal. It’s better in late Fall or early Spring.
The basic rules:
1. Don’t go alone.
2. Don’t go off the beaten path without a local to guide you.
3. Don’t take a normal vehicle off-road. If you must, stay on the dirt roads.
4. Always bring water and bring more water than you think you will need. Keep some of it within arm’s reach in case you are immobilized.
5. Bring some tools if you can and common car parts like belts and hoses, a tire repair kit and air pump.
6. Invest in a Garmin InReach or similar GPS with emergency locator.
7. Stay the hell out of the sun.
8. Bring a gun(s).
I love the desert and have learned to respect it, like the ocean. Parts of it are very remote and there are people out there looking for an easy target. It’s the perfect place to ambush someone and do bad things to them.
Your above rules are exactly correct, I spent hundreds of hours climbing in what was then Joshua Tree National Monument and it is a very unforgiving place during the summer months. Numerous individuals have become lost and perished in the heat, very few from criminal activity.
108RS
Sad times we live in. Growing up in the 60’s here in Concord me and my brothers (in single digit years) were always out running around til it got dark. Not a care in the world nor worried parents. To the family of this precious child, condolences.
Agreed, Aunt Barbara….
…. Yes I will blame this on COVID. It has ruined too many lives and caused mental illness in too many young people.
There! I made Aunt Barbara’s response intelligible! You’re welcome 🙂
Aunt Barbara blames this on Governor Newsom? Now that’s a stretch…
@Aunt Barbara 👍🏻
So sad and tragic. Prayers.
Hanne and gmato4 – that’s the point. Newscum has NEVER taken responsibility .
Don’t try to deflect and say “well, it’s a world wide problem.”
@ Aunt Barbara,
Clue! Everything bad that happens is not due to Governor Newsom.
You need to stop and think before you continually blame things on him.
Covid is a worldwide pandemic, get it? Many states felt they had to shut businesses down, Newsom wasn’t alone. What is your answer Barbara?
Would you then console those who’ve lost someone due to Covid? Doesn’t sound like it.
My sincere condolences to the family and loved ones who’ve lost this woman and I hope in time they find some peace and remember the happy times. We don’t yet know how she died so best to wait until we do.
Very sad. Condolences to the family.
@grandmato4
Newsom has bungled literally everything he has done since he took office. As Lt. Governor he didn’t like some of the jobs duties, so he simply did not do them and said so publicly. When did you not do your job and still get paid for it? One can only wonder what he doesn’t like about being Governor, but obviously he has neglected overseeing certain California agencies, specifically EDD and DMV, has burned through all but about 17 billion of the approximately 60 billion State budget surplus accumulated while his predecessor was in office.
Newsom appears to enjoy appearing on television to give his take on current events and further the party line, propaganda, and indoctrination of the new Democrat party line. He has disrupted lives, damaged small business, kept children prisoners in their homes, — many lives not repairable at this point. He was, you’ll remember, meeting with lobbyists from the California Medical Association when visiting the French Laundry when he had threatened Californians with fines and arrest for doing the same.
And, that’s just the beginning. His gynecomastia indicates he has a serious marijuana use problem. He cannot possibly be paying much of any attention to the responsibilities of his office, obviously. His history as Mayor of San Francisco is a good indication of a man with serious character flaws. He is, indeed, responsible for the condition the State is in. Who is running the show? Newsom is. He has made that clear.
grandma, You make so much sense. I’m with you.
Fred, How can one woman’s death be a worldwide problem. Seems some are getting away from the topic at hand. We don’t know how she died, let’s wait for some more information before we judge. Aunt Barbara, so what is wrong with liking selling handbags? I’m gainfully employed, I thought conservative are in favor of someone working hard.
Speaking of getting away from the topic at hand, we have another off-topic incoherent rant from our gullible traveler.
There’s a difference between one of 100 senators and a governor (essentially one CEO) of a state that issues executive orders.
Think about that difference.
What orders did Cruz issue? Once you can identify those, then let’s compare. Otherwise you’re just whining in the wind.
I would venture to say Cruz’s trip to Cancun is his “French Laundry” moment.
Hanne Jeppesen
Cruz did not violate the law. He took his family to a warmer place. This is the biggest none story going. It is the left grabbing at straws.
Nice try Hanne. Cruz didn’t issue any orders for people to follow, then defy those orders himself. It’s a HUGE distinction. And why isn’t anyone mentioning that while he planned to stay through yesterday, he changed his plans and returned to Houston the next afternoon.
They found her car early and it was all banged up. I don’t think this case was followed up correctly.
Somebody else is writing Hanne’s replies lately. Some of them are actually non-blonde.
GittyUp, I live alone, no one is writing for me. My hair is white/gray and I was never a natural blond.
Much of that area is very remote and patrolled by helicopter, if at all. Back in the 70s my car broke down on Hwy 10 between Indio and Desert City. We had seen signs saying “Patrolled by Helicopter,” so we thought they’d send a CHP along pretty quickly when we saw a helicopter fly over very low checking us out as we were stopped at the side of the deserted road.
It was getting hot out really fast when four hours later an officer showed up. He called for a tow truck for us, I had blown a piston sending metal chards through the engine, I found out later. The officer apologized for the delay saying they were patrolling a farm workers protest (Lettuce) in the Coachella Valley nearby. We waited about another hour for the tow truck that took us and the car back to Indio which happened to have a VW dealer.
We had no water with us and I sure would not have wanted to sit there any longer. We were positively cooking in the sun baking down on us and surrounded by dessert for miles around. But, we did get close up views of Joshua trees out of it. I wouldn’t ever set out in that area of the country again after that experience without plenty of water and snacks, and flares, in case I needed them. Unless you know the dessert well, you’re better off visiting with an organized group. And, we were on a main highway through the area.