MOUNTAIN CENTER, Calif. — There are new developments in the case of Dia Abrams, a former La Lolla resident who went missing from her ranch near Idyllwild more than three years ago. A canine search team leader told CBS 8 that cadaver dogs last month alerted on the shores of Lake Hemet.
The search location was identified by the Find Me Group, which uses between 80 and 97 psychics to solve missing person cases, according to the group’s founder, Kelly Snyder.
“In the last 21 years, using psychic information only, we have solved or resolved 121 cases,” Snyder said.
The group has been working for the past two and a half years to find Dia Abrams, who went missing from her 117-acre Bonita Vista Ranch in June of 2020.
The initial request for assistance came from Abrams boyfriend, who remains a person of interest in her disappearance and continues to live on the ranch. “I got a contact request from the fiancé, a guy by the name of Keith Harper,” said Snyder.
Several psychics Snyder works with believe Abrams is deceased, he said, and some think her remains could be located on her ranch in Mountain Center, or about 4 miles away near Lake Hemet.
At the invitation of Harper, who was the last person to see Abrams alive, Snyder searched the ranch in August 2023 using three cadaver dogs, trained to locate human remains.
“It was about a one and a half day search of the ranch because it's quite a large area. And then the same day, on day number two, is when we went to Lake Hemet,” Snyder said.
He said the cadaver dogs found nothing on the ranch. But at Lake Hemet, Snyder said all three canines showed interest in an area near the dam spillway.
“So, the first dog showed interest, then we went and got the second dog, and then the third dog, and all three showed interest in the exact same area,” Snyder said. “Indicating that they believe down somewhere towards the lake was human remains.”
Snyder said the area was overgrown and rocky, and only accessible from the water. So they ended the search at the end of the day.
He then returned to Lake Hemet in November and transported two cadaver dogs by boat to the same location.
“We released our dogs one at a time. And within about 20 minutes, they alerted on a specific area. Both dogs actually laid down. And that was their message to the handler that they're saying that there's human remains there,” said Snyder.
“Whatever it was, it was probably buried underneath the soil and it's not up to us to uncover what the remains are because it's potentially a crime scene,” he said.
“There's no way for us to know who it is or what it is. If it's something that's recent it could be a tampon, or it could be a band-aid that has blood on it. And the dog would alert on that,” he said.
Snyder said he wrote up a report, which included the GPS location of the suspected human remains, and sent it to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department and the lead detective in the Dia Abrams investigation. He did not know whether law enforcement followed up on the report or whether they have searched the Lake Hemet area.
A Riverside Sheriff dive team previously searched underwater in Lake Hemet for Abrams' remains in November of 2021, according to a deposition in a probate case given by Keith Harper.
The location for the dive-team search was also identified by the Find Me Group of psychics, according to Snyder. “It was almost smack-dab in the middle of the lake,” he said.
Snyder said he reported that location to law enforcement, as well, and heard later from Harper that the dive team actually searched the lake.
“I just received information from Mr. Harper that that's how it occurred. I don't have any personal knowledge of how they did it,” Snyder said. “(Harper) was aware that they were there, and they were searching, and I believe he physically went out on the lake while they were doing this search, and I believe he said that they told him that he had to get off the lake while they were doing the search.”
Snyder said his cadaver dogs were not used during the 2021 search, and apparently no human remains were located. He said the canines were not involved in searches of Abrams' other two properties in the area located at 36581 Tool Box Springs Rd and 28893 Bonita Vista Rd in Mountain Center.
A court-appointed trustee of the Abrams estate has posted a $300,000 reward for information leading to the discovery of her remains and the conviction of those responsible for her going missing.
"We don't accept money from anyone connected to the family or friends of anyone that's missing. So, if they find Dia with the information we provided, we can't and won't accept the money," said Snyder.
Harper has been in communication with CBS 8 over the years since Abrams went missing. He has offered several theories about who may be involved in her disappearance and/or murder.
His latest theory involves a burglary at the Bonita Vista Ranch, which CBS 8 has confirmed occurred on May 27, 2023.
“Those who were arrested on the Memorial (Day) weekend were the same that were present on June 6th, 2020 and performed the execution Of Dia Abrams,” Harper wrote in a text message to CBS in October, without providing evidence to support his claim.
Two males and one female were, in fact, arrested at the ranch on May 27, and “found to be in possession of over $5000 worth of stolen tools in a previously stolen vehicle,” according to a bail declaration filed in the case. The three defendants “stole a $36,000 tractor from the property the residence was located on this morning and attempted to steal a 2003 Lexus SUV from the same property,” the declaration continued.
The defendants Jon Gallarde, Miguel Gomez, and Jessica Brouckaert pleaded guilty on November 14, 2023 to first-degree burglary charges in Riverside County Superior Court, records showed. CBS 8 reached out to the three defendants via telephone and email seeking comment, but received no responses.
Harper’s statement alleging the same three defendants were involved in the “execution” of Abrams in 2020, ties back to the psychics working for the Find Me Group, Snyder said.
The group's founder said his members had provided descriptions in 2021 of three individuals the psychics thought were involved in Abrams’ disappearance. “Eleven members stated that the people that were responsible for taking Dia and abducting her was two males and a female,” said Snyder.
“When two males and a female were arrested stealing various items from the ranch,” Snyder said. “It just seemed awfully coincidental.”
CBS 8 reached out to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, and the lead detective in the case, to ask about the burglary on May 27 and whether the agency had conducted any searches of Lake Hemet. CBS 8 also inquired about a surveillance video that Harper alleges was recorded on the day Abrams went missing in 2020, a video he alleges is in the possession of Riverside Sheriff. The agency's public information officer, Sgt. Deirdre Vickers, emailed CBS 8 the following response:
"I was advised there is no video, as indicated by Mr. Keith Harper. This investigation is still ongoing, and no further information will be released at this time."
WATCH: Extended interview clips with Kelly Snyder, founder of the Find Me Group