PINYON PINES, Calif. — Skeletal remains discovered in the Pinyon Pines area east of Idyllwild were positively identified Thursday by the Riverside County Coroner as those of a missing woman, Rosario Garcia. A sergeant with the coroner’s office in Indio confirmed the remains have been identified and that Garcia’s family had been notified.
Garcia, 73, was last seen driving away from her home on Katharin Street in Hemet on July 7 at 9:30 a.m. The grandmother suffered from dementia, according to her family.
Her vehicle, a gray Nissan sedan, was found “high centered” and abandoned on a dirt road on Santa Rosa Mountain more than 40 miles away.
Search teams and family members attempted to locate the woman in the area where the vehicle was found but those efforts failed.
Riverside Sheriff posted the following statement on its website Thursday:
"On Friday, February 5, 2021, personnel from RMRU, Riverside County Search Dogs, Riverside County Coroner’s Bureau, Riverside County Forensics, Sheriff’s Emergency Response Team and personnel from the Hemet Station responded to the the Mountain Center area and conducted a search in an area where information was received that possible human remains had been seen. Human remains consistent with an adult female were located in the area as well as items belonging to Rosario Garcia. Our Coroner’s Bureau was able to obtain a positive identification that the remains belonged to Rosario Garcia. There is no evidence of foul play."
Garcia was one of several missing persons cases in the Idyllwild area.
On Aug 7, the Riverside County Sheriff's Department tweeted out updates that two of those reported missing, Venessa Vlasek and Jade Kemerer, have been "located safely and have been removed from the missing persons database."
News 8 has been following the case of former La Jolla resident, Lydia “Dia” Abrams, who went missing from her Bonita Vista Ranch east of Idyllwild. Abrams remains missing.
Investigators have not indicated whether any of the missing persons cases are related.
