‘Disheveled’ campsite spurs search for missing California woman in national forest
A 54-year-old California woman remains missing in the Sierra National Forest following the discovery of her “disheveled” campsite and crashed Saab, Madera County officials say.
Sandra Johnsen Hughes was last in contact with her family June 26, the sheriff’s office said in a Facebook post. She had been on a solo camping trip in the national forest northwest of Fresno and south of Yosemite National Park.
“She said she was quarantining in the national forest,” said Ashley Macus, her niece, reported Sierra News Online. Hughes had recently moved to California from Hawaii.
Her abandoned campsite in Johnson Meadows was found “disheveled,” sheriff’s officials wrote.
“Things thrown about all over — almost as if her car and belongings had been emptied carelessly,” wrote Macus in a Facebook post shared by the sheriff’s office.
“She would never leave her campsite a mess,” Macus said, KFSN reported. “Even a piece of litter on the ground would bother her.”
On Monday, searchers found Hughes’ silver Saab, which had apparently rolled into a ravine after colliding with a tree near Chiquito Creek, The San Francisco Chronicle reported. Hikers also reported seeing her over the Fourth of July weekend.
“She was barefoot and had a bruise on her face,” said deputy Sarah Jackson, reported Sierra News Online. Hughes declined assistance from the hikers.
“So there’s so much that happened that’s just as a family we can’t really explain it,” Macus said, KFSN reported.
Sheriff’s officials describe Hughes as being 5-foot-3 and 150 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes. They ask that anyone with information contact the sheriff’s office at (559) 675-7770.
