Erin Corwin (Photo courtesy San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department)
A dozen search and rescue volunteers and a helicopter crew are searching Joshua Tree National Park in California for a pregnant 19-year-old woman from Oak Ridge who was reported missing on Sunday.
Erin Corwin was last seen leaving her Twentynine Palms, California, home on her way to Joshua Tree National Forest at about 7 a.m. Saturday, the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department said. Her husband, Jonathan Corwin, reported her missing on Sunday.
The Sheriff’s Department said it began an extensive air and ground search using volunteers and search and rescue teams. The San Bernardino Sheriff’s Homicide Detail is assisting in the investigation.
Specialized investigators, detectives from Morongo Basin/Twentynine Palms station, and patrol personnel are also at the scene, the Sheriff’s Department said in an update posted late Thursday morning. The search area continues to be in and around the Joshua Tree National Park, authorities said.
KTLA-TV in Los Angeles said Corwin was going to the park to see if it would be a good place for a family outing during a planned visit with her mother, Lore Heavilin of Oak Ridge. Heavilin had planned a trip there to celebrate Erin’s birthday on July 15.
Erin and Jonathan Corwin, a corporal in the U.S. Marine Corps, live together on the Twentynine Palms Marine Corps base, KTLA said.
Authorities, family, and friends are urging anyone who might have information about Erin Corwin to contact the Sheriff’s Specialized Investigation Division at (909) 387-3589 or Sheriff’s dispatch at (909) 387-8313. Callers wishing to remain anonymous can call the WeTip Hotline at (800) 78-CRIME (27463) or go to www.wetip.com.
“Just tell them that insignificant detail, because it might be the piece that fills in the puzzle,” Heavilin told KESQ-TV in Palm Springs, California.
Corwin was last seen driving a blue 2013 Toyota Corolla with California license plate number 7CJX519. The car was found in Twentynine Palms on Monday, but there was no sign of Corwin’s direction of travel or location, authorities said. Twentynine Palms is east of Los Angeles in southern California and on the north side of Joshua Tree National Park.
Corwin is a white female adult, and she is 5’2” and weighs 120 pounds. She has brown hair and blue eyes, and she is three months pregnant. She has no history of medical and/or psychological issues, the Sheriff’s Department said.
Heavilin told KESQ-TV that she and Erin had planned to visit the San Diego Zoo and Sea World. Now, she feels like she’s “walking in a nightmare,” Heavilin said.
The day Erin went missing, she was going to Joshua Tree National Park to look for places for her and her mother to take photos during Lore’s visit.
Authorities said the national park is very rocky and has some really dangerous areas.
“We also have the extreme heat of the desert, wide open desert areas that we’ve also checked,” Sheriff’s Department Detective Marcel Silva told KESQ.
The Sheriff’s Department is posting updates on nixle.com and on Twitter.
Family and friends have started a Facebook page called Locate Erin.
