Remains found in San Bernardino County desert identified as those of Lauren Cho, missing since June
On Thursday, The San Bernardino County Coroner’s Division identified the human remains found earlier this month to be Lauren "El" Cho, 30, of New Jersey.
Cho's cause of death was pending toxicology results.
On October 9, the Sheriff's Department said it found the human remains during an ongoing search for Cho, reported missing on June 28, 2021.
Cho was last seen walking away from an Air BNB where she was staying with friends and an ex-boyfriend, who reported her missing.
Investigators say it was late in the afternoon when "she reportedly walked away from the residence where she was staying in the 8600 block of Benmar Trail." It was then she mysteriously disappeared from Yucca Valley.
Her friends said she was upset and left the home, leaving behind her personal belongings.
The sheriff’s department, volunteers, and Cho's loved ones spent months searching for her throughout the high desert.
Cho's sister described her as “a talented musician, an incredible baker, a hilarious and loyal friend, a strangely intuitive gift giver, and probably the coolest sister one could hope for…But where El really shines is as an aunt.“
A friend of Cho's family has started a GoFundMe to help pay for expenses related to Lauren's case.
If you have any information on the case, you are asked to contact Detective Ables at (760) 366-4175, reference DR 092101115.
Thursday night, family issued a statement on a Facebook page dedicated to Lauren Cho:
