This article delves into several missing person cases in America, each marked by unique circumstances and persistent searches for answers. The global statistical data on missing persons throughout the world from the late 20th and early 21st centuries are unreliable due to a number of factors, including international migration, travel capabilities, and legal protection for individuals who may have chosen to disappear intentionally.
Dia Abrams
Sixty-five-year-old Lydia Abrams, known as Dia, vanished from Mountain Center, California on June 6, 2020. Dateline spoke with Keith Harper who said that he and Dia started dating in 2016 and got engaged in 2019. According to Keith, the two were living together in Dia’s Mountain Center home where he worked as the property’s ranch manager. Her purse was in the house, and her truck was outside. Dia was nowhere to be found.
Keith told Dateline that after Dia didn’t return home that night, he reported her missing the next day. Dia’s son, Clinton Abrams, told Dateline he learned about his mother’s disappearance from one of her neighbors and immediately left his home in San Diego to go to the ranch. “I drove up there that Sunday,” he said. And by Monday, “missing persons came out, homicide came out, there was a dive team.”
Clinton told Dateline he believes Keith Harper knows more about Dia’s disappearance than he has revealed. When asked by Dateline if he had something to do with Dia’s disappearance, Keith Harper responded, “Absolutely not.”
In June 2023, Dateline featured Dia's case in our podcast series "Dateline: Missing in America." The Riverside County Sheriff's Office told Dateline in June 2023 that the "homicide unit is pursuing all leads they can, but they cannot comment about evidence in the investigation." They also confirmed that Keith Harper is considered a person of interest in Dia's disappearance.
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In October 2023, the Riverside County Sheriff's Office conducted a search of Dia's property where Keith Harper was still serving as the ranch manager and as co-trustee of Dia's estate. It is unclear what was discovered during the search. The Riverside County Sheriff's Office Media Information Bureau confirmed to Dateline that a search warrant was served but said that "no further details are available at this time." In November 2023, a judge removed Harper as co-trustee of Dia's estate after he tried to list the property with a real estate agent. A judge approved the sale of the estate in 2024.
Rewards totaling $300,000 are being offered by the Dia Kenshalo Abrams Trust in connection to the case. Dia is 5’6” with blue eyes. When last seen, Dia’s hair was blonde and she weighed 135 lbs.
Anyone with information on Dia’s disappearance is asked to contact the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department after-hours hotline at 951-776-1099, Investigator Loureiro at 760-578-2101, or Investigator Vasquez at 951-203-3767.
Where Did Millionaire Rancher Lydia “Dia” Abrams Go?! Is Family Involved?
Christina Bastian
High school teacher Christina Bastian and her dog, Coco, were last seen together in the early hours of November 1, 2015, at a friend's home near Apple Valley, California. The 34-year-old’s belongings were later found strewn along Highway 247, near Lucerne Valley. Her truck was located, abandoned, on a dirt road along Highway 62.
The next day, Coco was found alive by a stranger nearly 70 miles from where Christina’s truck had been located. In the years since Christina vanished, there have been few clues discovered in the case. The Apple Valley Police Department told Dateline in 2022 that they are looking at this case as a homicide. In 2023, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department confirmed that Cristina's case is still open.
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If you have any information regarding Christina’s case, please call the Apple Valley Police Department at (760) 240-7400 or the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department at (909) 884-0156.
Nancy Bromet
Nancy Bromet left her father’s home in Sunrise, Florida on November 12, 2015, to head to Bakersfield, California with her boyfriend, a long-haul truck driver. On November 17, the 37-year-old called her sister Laura saying she was in distress and wanted to come home.
On November 22, the boyfriend reported Nancy missing. According to police, he said that he had dropped Nancy off at a shopping mall outside El Centro, California while he was finishing deliveries and Nancy was not there when he returned.
Shortly after Nancy disappeared, Dateline spoke with Detective Luis Hernandez of the El Centro Police Department. “We’ve talked to businesses in that area where she was supposedly dropped off,” he said. But she hasn’t been seen since.” He noted that at that time there was no indication of foul play. In 2023, however, Sergeant Fisher from the El Centro Police Department told Dateline that "everything is pointing to" Nancy's boyfriend being responsible for her disappearance and "possible death."
Fisher told Dateline that there have been no updates in her case in the past few years and that her body has not been found. Nancy is 5’2”, weighs 165 lbs., and has brown hair and eyes.
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Anyone with information regarding Nancy’s disappearance is asked to call the El Centro Police Department at (760) 337-4861.
Cecilia Cabrera
The last images of Cecilia Cabrera were captured on security footage from the Tachi Palace Casino in Lemoore, California on June 9, 2016, when the 31-year-old was seen leaving the casino in her dark gray Chevrolet Malibu. Several hours later, a call came in to the California State Highway Patrol that a burning vehicle had been discovered in an orchard near Goshen, about 30 miles from the casino. It was Cecilia’s car, but she was not inside.
Cecilia was last seen with her husband, Francisco Valdivia. In December of 2016, the Tulare County District Attorney's office filed charges against Valdivia for felony murder and arson. Rosalina Lopez - a woman who was also married to Valdivia - was charged with one felony count of being an accessory to murder after the fact. Valdivia pleaded not guilty. According to the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office, his trial is scheduled to begin on February 20, 2025. Cecilia’s body has not been found.
If you have any information in Cecilia’s case, please call the Tulare County Sheriff's Department at (559) 735-1880.
The California Five
Despite active pursuits on social media for many years now, the families of five young men who went missing in the San Francisco, California area more than a decade ago still have few answers. Jackson Miller, missing May 15, 2010, Cameron Remmer, missing October 6, 2011, Shawn Dickerson, missing December 2, 2011, Crishtian Hughes, missing February 7, 2013, and Sean Sidi, missing May 21, 2013, all vanished from various areas of San Francisco without a trace.
On March 26, 2021, a possible sighting of Jackson Miller at a Target in Woodland, California shined a new light on the cases. A woman called the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office and reported that she had been approached by a man who identified himself as “Jackson” and stated he was a missing person and asked her for a ride. She declined and he left.
According to Oxygen, the National Center For Missing and Exploited Children has since conducted a forensic cross-analysis of the Target surveillance images. The results came back “inconclusive," John Bischoff, Vice President of the Missing Children Division, said.
Leads and searches have unearthed virtually no clues in any of their cases, but members of each family have banded together to help in the search efforts and cope with their shared grief.
If you have any information regarding any of these five cases, please contact the San Francisco Police Department at (415) 558-5508.
Donald Cavanaugh
Donald Cavanaugh was one of two men who disappeared more than a decade ago after working on the same small horse ranch in California outside Westport, a town with only 60 residents. Donald, then 63, was reported missing in May 2005, in Ukiah, California after a dispute with his nephew, James DeNoyer, who was the ranch owner. David Neily, 69, was reported missing in Westport, California just one year later, also reportedly after a confrontation with DeNoyer.
Both men's vehicles were found on DeNoyer's ranch property. DeNoyer denies having any information or involvement in either man’s disappearance and has not been named a suspect. In 2023, Lieutenant Andrew Porter with the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office confirmed to Dateline that DeNoyer is not a suspect. "We don't have any evidence that he did something," said Porter.
For years, both Donald Cavanaugh and David Neily had been feared dead. In May 2021, human remains were found by an employee at a private nature reserve in an old-growth Douglas Fir forest in Branscomb, about 3.5 miles from where David Neily’s car had been found 15 years earlier. DNA analysis of the remains and dental records examined by Jim Wood, a California Assembly member and forensic dentistry expert, determined they belonged to Neily. The examination found no evidence of trauma and the sheriff’s office continues to investigate the circumstances surrounding Neily’s disappearance. Donald Cavanaugh is still missing.
The Mendocino County Sheriff's Office told Dateline in 2023 that his case is still open and under investigation. If you have information about either of these cases, you are encouraged to call the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office at (707) 234-2100.
Corey Daniely
33-year-old Corey Daniely was last seen on August 7, 2023 walking away from a house in Kerman, California. It was his birthday. His mother, Tamecka Harris, told Dateline that she spoke to a man who had been at the house with her son, who told her that Corey had gotten into an argument with another man at the house.
Tamecka told Dateline the man she spoke with suggested that Corey might have hitchhiked back to Santa Rosa from Kerman - a nearly four hour journey. Dateline reached out to the man Tamecka said she spoke with about that night but has yet to receive a response. On August 9, Corey’s family reported him missing.
The Fresno County Sheriff’s Office is investigating Corey’s disappearance. He said the friend knew people staying at the home. Officer Botti told Dateline that the Fresno County Search and Rescue Team conducted multiple ground searches centering out from the location where Corey was last seen. At this time, there are no persons of interest in Corey’s case, however authorities do suspect foul play.
“This is due to Corey being an active person who either speaks with people or attends events on a regular basis, so it is strange for him to no longer be seen or heard from,” Officer Botti said. Corey is 5’8”, 190 lbs., with brown eyes and black hair. He was last seen wearing red sweatpants, no shirt, and Nike shoes.
Monique Figueroa
Monique Figueroa told her family on May 19, 201... Police recovered her 2004 Mercedes abandoned in a rural area outside Los Angeles several days later. Forensic tests were conducted, but no clues to Monique’s disappearance were uncovered.
| Name | Age | Last Seen | Location | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dia Abrams | 65 | June 6, 2020 | Mountain Center, California | Engaged, living with ranch manager, purse and truck left behind. |
| Christina Bastian | 34 | November 1, 2015 | Apple Valley, California | High school teacher, belongings strewn along Highway 247. |
| Nancy Bromet | 37 | November 12, 2015 | Sunrise, Florida (traveled to California) | Reported missing by boyfriend, last seen near El Centro, California. |
| Cecilia Cabrera | 31 | June 9, 2016 | Lemoore, California | Last seen at Tachi Palace Casino, car found burning. |
| Jackson Miller | N/A | May 15, 2010 | San Francisco, California | One of "The California Five," possible sighting in Woodland, CA. |
| Donald Cavanaugh | 63 | May 2005 | Ukiah, California | Disappeared after dispute with nephew, worked on horse ranch. |
| Corey Daniely | 33 | August 7, 2023 | Kerman, California | Last seen walking away from a house, foul play suspected. |
| Monique Figueroa | N/A | May 19, 201_ | Los Angeles, California | Car found abandoned in a rural area. |
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