Amanda Nenigar: Missing 27-year-old woman whose car was found in Arizona desert sparks search in two states
BLYTHE, CALIFORNIA: Police in Arizona and California are asking for assistance in their search for Amanda Nenigar, 27, who went missing at the end of February.
A week after she vanished from Blythe, California, her car was discovered abandoned in a remote area of the Arizona desert.
Amanda Nenigar made a 911 call the day before she went missing
Detectives are working against the clock to try and find even the slightest lead as to the whereabouts of Nenigar, and the mystery surrounding this cross-state search seems to be growing every day.
"My personal fear is that it’s going to be a recovery and not a location of a person that’s still alive," said La Paz County Sheriff William Ponce, as per AZ Family.
Nenigar was last seen on February 28 in Blythe, according to the authorities. The sheriff claimed that although the 27-year-old resided in Blythe, she regularly traveled to her family's home in La Paz County, Arizona.
A week after a missing report was lodged, police learned that Nenigar's Toyota Camry was discovered by family members in the isolated desert south of Cibola, roughly 45 minutes from Blythe.
"The rear end of the vehicle was on a large boulder," shared Sheriff Ponce, speaking about the peculiar discovery. He added, "When you have a vehicle that’s abandoned and you don’t have kind of inkling where the person has gone or anything, it all seems very odd to us and it’s very concerning."
He said that in order to try and put together a timeline, they had to work backward with the Blythe Police. The day before she went missing, February 27, Nenigar apparently did call 911 after getting stuck in a ditch, but it was nowhere near where her car was later discovered.
"We do know that there was a 911 call that went to the El Centro, California highway patrol station around that time frame stating that she was in Anza and en route to the Palm Springs area," further noted Sheriff Ponce.
Unfortunately, Nenigar never made it to Palm Springs.
Amanda Nenigar could have fallen victim to human trafficking
La Paz County Sheriff Ponce said that he has personally been conducting ground searches alongside teams from various agencies, addressing operations from both the air and the ground. This past weekend, cadaver dogs were brought in, but they failed to detect any scent.
Meanwhile, he expressed concern that Nenigar could have fallen victim to human trafficking.
"Is it a bigger concern to me right now? Of course, it is. Our proximity to the border, the ruralness as a state, we’re a couple of hours from LA, a couple hours from Phoenix, three or four hours from Vegas," remarked Ponce.
He continued, We have no information at all, it’s very mysterious to us. That’s why we’re asking for the public's help to try to find her or give us any information that may lead us to where she’s at."
Nenigar was last seen, according to the authorities, donning a black legging, white tennis shoes, and a pink hooded sweatshirt. She has a scar on her cheek and there's a rose tattoo on her right hand.
Authorities think she might be wearing a thin bracelet and carrying a pink purse.
Please contact the Blythe Police Department at 760-922-6111 or the La Paz County Sheriff's Office at 928-669-6141 if you have any information.
