Missing Morongo Valley woman’s family fears worst
The family of Morongo Valley native Krista Bowman has been searching for her for weeks. They say she left the high desert three months ago Wednesday and stopped communicating with her family a few weeks after that.
“We never thought in a million years my sister would go missing,” said Bowman’s sister Rachel. “I’m exploring every avenue that I can to find her, dead or alive.”
On March 14, the 32-year-old packed her belongings inside her silver Toyota Avalon and drove away from her mother’s home. She was heading to Colorado to meet a boyfriend. Rachel said that was the last time the family saw Krista, but that Krista had been in regular contact with the family over the phone until the middle of April. Then, one day, there was nothing.
“I can’t find her phone. We can’t find any of her belongings. Her car is missing,” Rachel told KESQ News Channel 3’s and CBS Local 2’s Katie Widner. “I think finding her car is a key point on finding where she’s at.”
Rachel said that Krista met her boyfriend, but that the details of where they were and what they were doing were not clear. Complicating the search, the family said, are also receipts and eyewitnesses who said Krista was, at one point, in Arizona. Her family said the situation is even more unsettling because her boyfriend is a convicted felon and was recently arrested in Wyoming. Krista was nowhere to be found.
Those who are closest to Krista add that the lack of communication is out of character.
“It’s really upsetting. That’s not usually like her. She’s usually calling, at least calling her daughter,” said Janna Smith, a friend who has known Krista her entire life.
The family has been trying to shield Krista’s 8-year-old daughter from the situation. Krista didn’t take her with her because she only has partial custody of the child. While family and friends are forced to wait for answers, they can’t help their minds from traveling to the darkest of places.
“I kind of already have it in my mind that she’s either dead or being held captive,” Rachel said.
Rachel added that detectives with the Morongo Basin Sheriff’s Department, who put out a Nixle alert for Krista last week, have obtained a search warrant for Krista’s cellphone records. They family is hoping the records will contain some answers.
Anyone who has had any contact with Krista since she left the high desert or who has any information is asked to call detectives at 760-366-4175.
Read: We first reported on Krista Bowman’s disappearance on June 9
Krista is described as:
32 years old Sex: Female Race: White Eyes: Hazel Height: 5 ft. 7 in. Weight: 125 lbs
