#California mother goes missing during road trip to Joshua Tree

A California mother destined for a trip to Joshua Tree National Park amid the coronavirus pandemic in June vanished two days into her travels — and has been missing ever since.

Erika Lloyd, 37, mother of a 12-year-old son, set out from Walnut Creek for the roughly 500-mile road trip on June 14, but two days later her family told news station KESQ they lost contact with her.

“Being [on] lockdown for almost three months, not being able to work and she was trying to home school her son, it was starting to get to her — the pressure and not having any income,” Erika’s mom, Ruth Lloyd told the outlet last Friday.

The same day Erika’s family lost touch with her, authorities found her abandoned 2006 black Honda Accord near the park on California’s State Route 62 in Twentynine Palms, according to California Highway Patrol.

The car’s dashboard was damaged and several windows broken, the San Bernardino County Sentinel reported, leading family members to believe Erika may have gotten into an accident.

“We don’t know if she had some memory loss when she got hit by the airbag,” Ruth told KESQ.

“Maybe she doesn’t know who she is, we don’t know. We aren’t sure about her mental state.”

Erika’s family said they hired a local cave and mine expert to help with the search.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to help cover the costs of the search efforts.