Who is Lauren Cho? Search continues near Joshua Tree National Park for missing woman

A 30-year-old woman walked away from a home near Joshua Tree National Park three months ago and hasn’t been seen since, California authorities said.

Investigators are still chasing leads about Lauren Cho, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office said.

Cho walked away from a home in Yucca Valley on June 28 and has been missing since.

Investigators who specialize in homicides and suspicious deaths recently joined the search, according to the Palm Springs Desert Sun.

“Investigators are investigating all leads and working with family and friends of Ms. Cho,” authorities said on Facebook. “Future search operations will occur as further leads develop.”

When Cho first went missing, a search and rescue operation started in Morongo and Yucca Valley, according to the Hi-Desert Star.

After about a week, the operation was suspended and Cho became classified as a missing person, the news outlet reported.

The sheriff’s department later searched remote areas of the mountains for Cho in July.

“Ongoing search efforts continue with future operations planned as further leads are developed in the investigation,” the sheriff’s office said that month.

Detectives also searched the home Cho was staying in about a month after she went missing, according to the sheriff’s office.

Who is Lauren “El” Cho?

Cho is a New Jersey resident whose friends called her “El,” according to the Palm Springs Desert Sun. She moved to California eight months before she disappeared, the Hi-Desert Star reported.

She drove across the country with her friend in a tour bus for a “different life,” Cody Orell, the last person to see Cho before she vanished, told Hi-Desert Star.

“There was a 10-minute window there and she evaporated,” Orell told the news outlet.

After Gabby Petito’s disappearance gained national attention, some people on social media pointed to Cho’s missing person case. Many have said the cases show disproportionate media coverage for missing white women compared to missing people of color.

Cho’s family, however, said the two cases are very different, according to the Desert Sun.

“We understand the frustration many of you have expressed about how and why certain cases receive national coverage,” her family said, according to the news outlet. “Ultimately, these two cases are NOT the same and the differences run deeper than what meets the public eye.”

Cho was last seen wearing a yellow t-shirt and jean shorts, according to the sheriff’s office. She has black hair and brown eyes. She’s 5’3”.

Authorities ask that anyone with information contact detectives at 909-387-3589 or anonymously at 800-78-CRIME.

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