A DESPERATE search is underway for a 30-year-old woman who went missing this summer in a case that is being compared to the disappearance of Gabby Petito.
Lauren Cho was last seen in California’s Yucca Valley on June 28 after walking away from her friend Cody Orell, the last person to have seen her.
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Since then her family and friends have issued pleas for help in finding her, with police looking into whether she might have hitch-hiked or caught a ride with someone in the area.
After an autopsy Tuesday, authorities confirmed that Petito was dead. Her body was found in a Wyoming national forest.
CASES COMPARED
Gabby had been on a road trip with her fiancé Brian Laundrie when she disappeared.
Brian returned home alone on September 1 to Florida – where the couple lived with his parents – but he has since gone missing.
Brian has been identified by police as a person in interest in the case.
Now Twitter users are drawing comparisons between the two cases, with one writing: “The gaps in investigations for marginalized groups is real.”
“We must do better and find answers like we did for Gabby Petitio. Let’s find Lauren Cho,” they added.
Another said: “There are many times one case gets more coverage than others, for example, Lauren ‘El’ Cho went missing earlier this summer, yet there was hardly any coverage on her case.”
Read our Gabby Petito live blog for the very latest news and updates…
Crime podcast Crime Junkie noted: “Like Gabby, Lauren ‘El’ Cho went missing this summer as well after her friends say she walked out towards the mountains and was never seen again.”
MSNBC host Joy Reid even called out the coverage of Petito’s disappearance as “missing white woman syndrome.”
‘DIFFERENCES RUN DEEP’
But a Facebook page dedicated to finding Lauren said this week: “We would like to take a moment to acknowledge the messages and questions that have come our way this past week regarding the Gabby Petito case in comparison to what is happening with El.
We are aware that the public information in both cases shares some similarities.
“We are aware of the frustration that many of your expressed regarding how and why certain cases get national coverage.
These two cases are not the same. The differences between them go beyond what is visible to the public.
We are deeply grateful for the continued love shown to El. We sympathize with Gabby’s family. We hope both of our cases will lead to a positive resolution.
“Somebody knows something. About El, about Gabby.”
LAUREN GOES MISSING
According to her friend Orell, the last person to have seen Lauren, she wanted to “taste freedom”, joining him on his tour bus as he made his way out west.
In 2020, the New Jersey native moved to California.
Her journey took her to Bombay Beach in California, a small coastal town.
Cho was working on a renovation of an old school bus that would become a food truck when Cho disappeared.
Orell was staying with Cho at a friend’s home.
Cho was last seen in the area of Hoopa Road/Ben Mar Trail, between Yucca Valley/Morongo Valley at 3:00pm the day she vanished.
According to sheriff’s reports Orell made the call that Cho had disappeared at 5.13 pm that day.
He told The Desert Star: “There was a 10-minute window there and she evaporated … I searched all in the hills and no tracks, anywhere.”
Cho is said to have made comments about being upset and walked away on foot while Orell was inside of his tour bus.
NO TRACES FOUND
No traces of Cho, who was wearing a yellow tee shirt and jean shorts, have been found in or around the valley she was last seen in.
Police conducted a search at a property on July 31, where Cho was last seen.
People on foot and search and rescue teams, including helicopters, dogs and drones, have been active in the area looking for signs of Cho.
On Tuesday, the Morongo Basin Sheriff’s Station stated that Specialized Investigations Division investigators are helping in the search for Cho.
‘SOMEBODY KNOWS SOMETHING’
A Facebook page set up to help find Lauren states: “Somebody knows something.”
Central Recorder has contacted the Morongo Basin Sheriff’s Station for comment.
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