MOUNTAIN CENTER, Calif. — The sprawling Bonita Vista Ranch near Idyllwild where Dia Abrams lived when she went missing four years ago is expected to be sold by the end of the year.
But before the 117-acre ranch can be listed, valuable belongings and antiques belonging to the former La Jolla resident need to be liquidated.
Richard Munro, the court-appointed trustee overseeing the sale of Abrams' ranch, told a Riverside County probate judge on Monday that he expected to put the property on the market before winter.
“I'm seeking authority to deal with the personal property because I need to deal with that reasonably quickly before the weather changes later this year, if I'm going to put that property on the market and sell it. We already have some buyer interest in that property,” Munro said during a remote court hearing.
Abrams, 65, owned three residential properties in Mountain Center at the time of her disappearance in June 2020. Her remains have not been found. All three of her properties are being liquidated. By far, the most valuable asset is the Bonita Vista Ranch.
“That property contains an awful lot of personal property. There's a lot of clutter. There's some very valuable items there in furniture, potentially artwork and other items,” Munro told the judge.
An ex parte motion filed by Monro details some of the personal belongings at the ranch to be liquidated:
"The Trust personal property at the Ranch Property includes the following specific items and categories of property: ( i) a Lexus G470 SUV 2006 model and trailers; ( ii) furniture and antiques; ( iii) pictures and artwork; ( iv) household items( v) personal clothing, shoes and boots; ( vi) a large safe; ( vii) boxes of household items and decorations; ( viii) garden equipment, including a golf cart, a Deere gator vehicle, a Kubota tractor with bucket and attachments, a Husqvarna ride on mower, and blue quad ATV; ( ix) assorted garden hand tools, maintenance tools, and spraying equipment; ( x) a wine refrigerator including bottles of wine ( of unknown value or condition); and ( xi) an extensive collection of women' s jewelry which has already been appraised and is currently stored in a safe vault under the control of the Trustee at a separate location."
Photos | Bonita Vista Ranch
For nearly four years, Abrams' boyfriend, Keith Harper, lived on the Bonita Vista Ranch and maintained the property after Abrams’ disappearance.
A Riverside County judge ordered Harper removed in November. He vacated the premises in January.
Since then, Harper, 75, has filed a petition seeking $494,000 as reimbursement for working on the ranch over the years.
“I don't doubt that Mr. Harper worked hard or diligently to maintain the ranch. I'm focusing on the allegation that he worked every day for about 10 hours a day for 43 months. I just don't know if he kept a personal log, for instance, of his daily activities, or his hours, or things of that nature?,” Judge Russell Velasquez asked Harper’s attorney during the hearing.
“Yeah, I don't believe there was an actual log that Mr. Harper kept,” responded Harper’s attorney, Maryann Briseno. “He did write me, a kind of like, a breakdown of the kind of activities that he would conduct on a daily basis.”
The judge continued the hearing on Harper’s petition until November 7, to give Munro’s attorneys time to file objections.
In June 2025, Abrams will be legally declared dead, at which time Harper is set to receive 50 percent of her liquidated estate.
The other 50% will go to her two adult children, under the terms of previous settlement in Riverside County probate court.
WATCH RELATED: Podcast take deep dive into Dia Abrams missing woman case