Remains found in Yucca Valley identified as New Jersey woman missing since summer

Human remains discovered in Yucca Valley desert earlier this month belong to Lauren “El” Cho, a 30-year-old woman from New Jersey who vanished this summer after walking away from a rental property near Joshua Tree National Park, authorities confirmed Thursday.

Authorities have not yet determined a cause of death, and toxicology results are pending, the coroner’s division of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said.

Results could take up to several weeks, said Mara Rodriguez, a public information officer with the Sheriff’s Department.

“Until they have a cause and manner of death, there is no reason at this point for us to believe that there was foul play,” Rodriguez said.

Cho was last seen June 28 when she walked away from a rental property in Morongo Valley. Her disappearance triggered extensive searches of the area, including canines on the ground and aircraft in the sky, according to the Sheriff’s Department.

California

Human remains found in Yucca Valley amid search for missing woman

Lauren “El” Cho, 30, was last seen June 28 after walking away from an Airbnb property where she was working as a private chef.

Oct. 11, 2021

Two weeks ago, human remains were recovered in the “rugged terrain of the open desert of Yucca Valley,” the Sheriff’s Department said.

Cho’s friend and ex-boyfriend, Cory Orell, told the Hi-Desert Star in July that she “evaporated” after walking away from the Airbnb property where she was working as a private chef.

“I searched all in the hills and no tracks, anywhere,” Orell told the outlet.

Sheriff’s officials on Thursday said Tao Ruspoli was listed as an owner of the property where Cho was last seen. Ruspoli is an Italian American filmmaker and musician who was once married to actress Olivia Wilde.

Rodriguez said investigators questioned several people staying at the property after Cho went missing, including her former partner and a friend, but nothing has led them to identify a potential person of interest.

A Facebook page run by Cho’s family 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.”

Cho’s case was likened to that of Gabby Petito, who disappeared during a cross-country road trip with her boyfriend during the summer. Remains found in Wyoming in September were confirmed to belong to Petito. Her boyfriend, Brian Laundrie, was being sought in connection with her death when his remains were found in a Florida nature preserve earlier this month.

Petito’s case helped fuel a growing conversation about how missing people of color do not receive the same degree of attention as their white counterparts.

Times staff writer Hayley Smith contributed to this report.