Authorities launched a desperate search for a woman who went missing in California’s Sierra National Forest over Fourth of July weekend after finding her campsite ‘disheveled’ and her car crashed in a ravine.
Sandra Johnsen Hughes, 54, was last seen in the national forest near Fresno over eight days ago on July 4, according to the Madera County Sheriff’s office.
Hughes’ family said she had recently moved from Hawaii to California and was ‘quarantining’ on a solo camping trip. They said the last time she contacted relatives was on June 26.
Officials asked for the public’s help in locating Hughes after they found her campsite near the Johnsons Meadow section of the forest in disarray on July 5.
‘Things thrown about all over – almost as if her car and belongings had been emptied carelessly,’ Hughes’ niece, Ashley Macus, wrote in a Facebook post shared by the sheriff’s office.
Macus said the state of the campsite was very unusual, telling KFSN: ‘[Hughes] would never leave her campsite a mess. Even a piece of litter on the ground would bother her.’
Sandra Johnsen Hughes (pictured) was last seen in the Sierra National Forest on July 4. Authorities began searching for the 54-year-old after they found her campsite ‘disheveled’ and her car crashed in a ravine nearby
A rescue team from the Madera County Sheriff’s Office is pictured in the forest on Sunday as their search for Hughes entered its second week
The following day officers located Hughes’ silver Saab in Chiquito Creek to the north of the campsite. They said it appeared to have crashed into a tree at a speed of less than 20 miles per hour before rolling into the ravine.
Hikers reported seeing Hughes on July 4 and said she was barefoot and had a bruise on her face.
Deputy Sarah Jackson said the hikers offered to help Hughes but she declined medical assistance.
Officers and volunteers from more than a half dozen other sheriff’s departments, the California Highway Patrol and the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services have spent the past week combing the forest for signs of Hughes.
Helicopters from the California Air National Guard are conducting an aerial search while trained dogs were brought in to help on the ground.
Sierra News Online reported that the search has focused around the Chiquito Lake area in recent days.
In a Facebook update on Sunday, Macus said Hughes may be headed north toward Yosemite and asked anyone in the area to keep an eye out for her.
Authorities published several photos of Hughes as they asked hikers to look out for her in the Sierra National Forest. She is described as 5’3″ and 150 pounds with brown eyes and shoulder-length brown hair that’s been dyed blue
The map above shows where Hughes’ car was found in comparison to her campsite
Officers and volunteers from more than a half dozen other sheriff’s departments, the California Highway Patrol and the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services have spent the past week combing the forest for signs of Hughes
Macus, who lives in Pennsylvania with Hughes’ mother and brother, said her aunt had been living in Maui for the past few months before moving to California in June.
She said Hughes went to Sierra National Forest to quarantine in case she’d come in contact with coronavirus during her trip from Hawaii.
Macus described Hughes as someone who ‘liked to move around a lot’ as she doesn’t have any children from her two previous marriages, and said she is very organized.
‘That’s how the sheriff’s office there got my name,’ Macus told Sierra News Online of Hughes’ organization skills.
‘Sandra had a binder [with her] with all of her important contacts and investigators found my name in it and called me this weekend.’
Macus expressed disbelief at Hughes’ sudden disappearance, noting that she had trained to be a park ranger in college.
‘It’s not like her to disappear like this. She will always call or text when she comes into (cell phone) range,’ Macus said.
In an interview with KSFN she added: ‘There’s so much that happened that’s just as a family we can’t really explain it.’
Authorities said Hughes is 5’3″, weighs about 150 pounds and has brown eyes and shoulder-length brown hair that’s been dyed blue.
They’ve asked anyone who sees her to immediately contact the Madera County Sheriff’s Office at (559) 675-7770.