Mother disappears on 'pandemic road trip' after home-schooling her son for three months

‘It was starting to get to her, the pressure and not having any income’, family says

California mother disappears on pandemic road trip

A California woman has gone missing after she left home for a “pandemic road trip,” according to her family.

Authorities are searching for Erika Lloyd, 37 of Walnut Creek, California, who disappeared over a month ago after setting off on a long haul drive to Joshua Tree National Park on 14 June, ABC News reported.

Her family told ABC affiliate KESQ that Ms Lloyd went on the trip to help take her mind off the ongoing pandemic.

“Being in 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,” her mother, Ruth Lloyd, said.

Ms Lloyd’s family said they lost contact with their daughter two days after she set off on the trip. They told the local broadcaster that they fear she may have been involved in an accident and become disorientated.

“We don’t know if she had some memory loss when she got hit by the airbag,” her mother said. “Maybe she doesn’t know who she is, we don’t know, we aren’t sure about her mental state.”

Authorities located her black Honda Accord, abandoned and damaged, on 16 June not far from her destination in Twentynine Palms, ABC News reported. A ranger at the park reportedly said it was not clear if Ms Lloyd had camped near the vicinity of her car.

The front and back windshields of Ms Lloyd’s car were broken, but police said there were no signs foul play was involved, the broadcaster said.

“When the vehicle was noticed inside of the campgrounds there was no camping equipment directly associated with or in the vicinity of it,” Nathan Lewis, a ranger at Joshua Tree National Park told KESQ.

“So we can’t confirm or deny that the individual camped or stayed in the park.”

Ms Lloyd’s parents are holding out hope that their daughter will be found and are desperate to find out any information in regards to her whereabouts.

“We both feel like that she could still be out here, she could be with people, somebody could have taken her in,” her father, Wayne Lloyd, told KESQ.

“We are hopeful as of this time the sheriff’s department hasn’t seen anything negative.”

Anyone who may have information on Ms Lloyd’s whereabouts should contact the Walnut Creek Police Department or the Morongo Basin California Highway Patrol office.

Register for free to continue reading

Registration is a free and easy way to support our truly independent journalism

By registering, you will also enjoy limited access to Premium articles, exclusive newsletters, commenting, and virtual events with our leading journalists

Please enter a valid email
Please enter a valid email
Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number
Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number
Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number
Please enter your first name
Special characters aren’t allowed
Please enter a name between 1 and 40 characters
Please enter your last name
Special characters aren’t allowed
Please enter a name between 1 and 40 characters
You must be over 18 years old to register
You must be over 18 years old to register
Opt-out-policy
You can opt-out at any time by signing in to your account to manage your preferences. Each email has a link to unsubscribe.

By clicking ‘Create my account’ you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use, Cookie policy and Privacy notice.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy policy and Terms of service apply.

Already have an account? sign in

By clicking ‘Register’ you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use, Cookie policy and Privacy notice.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy policy and Terms of service apply.

Register for free to continue reading

Registration is a free and easy way to support our truly independent journalism

By registering, you will also enjoy limited access to Premium articles, exclusive newsletters, commenting, and virtual events with our leading journalists

Already have an account? sign in

By clicking ‘Register’ you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use, Cookie policy and Privacy notice.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy policy and Terms of service apply.

Join our new commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in