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(NewsNation Now) – It’s been 100 days since Lauren Cho was reported missing from an Airbnb on a dirt road in California’s Yucca Valley.
Despite multiple searches and increased interest in his case, Cho’s disappearance remains a mystery.
Those who know Cho well are desperate to find out where she is.
“None of this makes sense to me. None of this makes sense to any of us,” said Len Gherardi, who went to high school with Cho in New Jersey and later worked with her in a shop, tattooing and piercing.
“All her friends and family know she wouldn’t have just walked away from her life, she wouldn’t have just evaporated,” Gherardi said of the 30-year-old also known as ‘el’. . “She wouldn’t have just disappeared like that.”
Cho’s ex-boyfriend reported her missing on June 28 at around 5 p.m., telling authorities they had an argument three hours earlier and then she left the Airbnb where they were staying.
Later, during a telephone interview with the Hi-Desert Starthe ex-boyfriend said “there was a 10 minute window there and it just evaporated.”
According to Mara Rodriguez of the San Bernadino Sheriff’s Department, “She basically walked away with just the clothes she was wearing. No cell phone, no personal items, no money, nothing.
Cho wore denim shorts and a yellow t-shirt. She was reportedly last seen at the remote intersection of Hoopa Road and Benmar Trail in the Yucca Valley, where the terrain and temperatures are unforgiving.
The day she disappeared it would have been around 110 degrees.
“It gets very hot in the summer months and even in the evenings,” Rodriguez said.. “So being out there with no water, nothing to come into contact with anyone, that’s going to be a problem.”
In an exclusive interview with NewsNation, the housekeeper of the Airbnb compound expressed doubts that foul play existed on the property.
“People come from different countries. People show up, whoever they are, they get along,” said Traci Cloud, who worked as a housekeeper at the compound for nearly five years. “Nothing violent? No never. never never.”
Cloud thinks he saw Cho the morning of her disappearance before leaving for work.
“Obviously they had started drinking during the day, early in the day or whatever, and she had been drinking too much,” Cloud said. “When she wanted to leave [her then-boyfriend] wouldn’t let her take the vehicle and obviously that’s when she got mad.
Cho and her ex-boyfriend were in a relationship when they traveled across the country earlier this year, targeting the region around Joshua Tree National Park, eager for a fresh start.
Cho had expressed a dream of operating a food truck. Her early years were largely focused on singing and performing.
While attending Westminster Choir College in New Jersey, she befriended Kaitlyn Borden.
“One of our favorite things to do is find little gifts for people,” Borden said. “Silly little things that will make them smile.”
Until the end of June, the two friends stayed in touch, sharing memes daily and talking weekly.
Borden had heard all about the Airbnb where Cho was staying in California.
“She had asked me to go visit her at this Airbnb resort. And I said I was a little scared to go to the desert in the middle of summer. I’m very pale,” Borden laughed.
But the Airbnb complex is known for more than its exposure to the sun.
According to the Airbnb listing, there’s an “open” and “liberal” environment in this evolving collection of vintage trailers.
The owner describes it as adults only and clothing is optional.
The housekeeper describes the inhabitants as “all musicians or artists, sculptors”.
“They’re all very sweet,” Cloud said. “They’re like a different breed of people. They really are.
Cho was known for being artistic and having eclectic tastes.
“Her purse that she carries is like a rubber chicken. It’s like a rubber purse,” her high school friend Gherardi said. “And that’s what she wore every day. “
The sheriff’s office has its special investigation unit that is focused on Cho’s case. There have been multiple aerial and ground searches over the past three months, including within the Airbnb compound.
So far, there is no evidence of foul play.
Authorities are appealing to people who were in the area when Cho disappeared in late June.
“You don’t know what you don’t know,” Rodriguez said. “So if you have anything that you think might be useful, we definitely want to hear from you.”
“Go ahead and do the right thing,” Gherardi pleaded to anyone who might have information as to Cho’s whereabouts. “Come on and maybe talk about what they noticed or saw. And let’s get the real story of what happened that day.
The Cho family maintains a public facebook pagebut they don’t do interviews.
When NewsNation reached out to Cho’s ex-boyfriend, he immediately replied “no comment”.
NewsNation asked viewers to send us cases we should feature on “Missing in America.” Our team is already sifting through the hundreds of tips we’ve received.
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