Search planned for Roy Prifogle April 17

As Easter approaches, four people are still officially missing from the Idyllwild and surrounding areas. Roy Prifogle, Lydia “Dia” Abrams, Diana Perez Gonzalez and Melissa Lane have not been located.

According to Prifogle’s daughter Kendra Johnson, a new search and rescue operation is scheduled for April 17. They are asking citizen volunteers to participate, unlike last year when they asked people not to disturb the area.

Johnson wrote on her Facebook page, “I’m not sure how the top Sheriff in charge of the search will want to handle volunteers, but me and my family welcome anyone who is free on April 17th to help us search. Me and my aunt Lisa will be hiking that day.”

The Idyllwild Town Crier emailed the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department (RCSD) media information bureau Friday asking for any further updates regarding any of these cases. As of print time, no response was received.

Four people remain missing

Eight people have gone missing in the area since March of last year and four remain missing.

On Sept. 10, an RCSD SUV was spotted hauling an off-road vehicle near Highway 243 and Saunders Meadow Road.

The newspaper was told, “They were conducting follow-up searches for Melissa Lane.”

While it was unclear exactly where on the mountain deputies were searching for Lane, it was also confirmed that the search didn’t provide any further information or evidence of where Lane may have gone missing.

Lane, 41 at the time she went missing, was last seen June 15, according to a poster that was displayed in the Mountain Center area. The Town Crier spoke to Kathy Lamont, Lane’s mother, right after she was reported missing.

“She was an avid hiker but didn’t have a destination,” Lamont said. “She was last seen in Pine Cove. I don’t know if she’s dead or alive.”

In December 2020, Lane’s cousin Todd Gilliland told the Town Crier, “I miss her a lot. I wish we would get some kind of word about her. It’s nerve racking.”

Outside of the search for Lane, the community has not received any updates on the other three missing people. Friends, family and the community have been left in the dark.

Prifogle was reported missing after going on a hike in the Pine Cove area Wednesday, March 4, 2020. He left home at about 1 p.m. and was last seen at the Pine Cove Market at 6:30 p.m. the same day. He was last seen wearing a red backpack and jeans.

RCSD Deputy Jeremy Parsons said, “After six full days of searching in between inclement weather, searching 8 to 10 hours per day, Prifogle has not been located. The Riverside Mountain Rescue Unit (RMRU), as well as search and rescue volunteers from San Bernardino County, Orange County and San Diego County, were assisting. In total, about 150 people have been searching during those six days.” Also adding, “On the second or third day of the search, we found his backpack, but have found no other clues as to his whereabouts.”

On Sunday, June 7 at approximately 8:24 a.m., Hemet Station deputies were dispatched to the 58000 block of Bonita Vista in reference to a missing person. Lydia “Dia” Abrams was placed into the system as a missing person.

Abrams was 65 years old at the time she went missing. She is 5’ 5” tall, 130 pounds with blonde hair and blue eyes. She was last seen wearing a black and turquoise jacket, yellow shirt and blue jeans.

On June 6, Lydia “Dia” Abrams was last seen by her self-proclaimed live-in boyfriend Keith Harper at her ranch in Apple Canyon (between Mountain Center and Garner Valley). Since the initial search efforts eight months ago, the RCSD has not provided new information or updates regarding her disappearance despite weekly inquiries from the Town Crier. 

David Gotfredson, investigative producer from News 8 out of San Diego, has also been following the case since the beginning. In a recent broadcast, Gotfredson reported that News 8 and drone pilot Steve Jensen made their way out to Grand Wash Cliffs in Arizona to do some searching of their own.  

Gotfredson and Jensen spent multiple hours over a two-day period searching the cliffs and surrounding area for remains or clothing that match what Abrams was last reported wearing. Unfortunately, they didn’t find anything. 

According to Gotfredson’s story, Harper was in the Grand Wash Cliffs area a few weeks before Abrams went missing. He owns about 85 acres of land. While Harper lived with Abrams at her ranch, two days after she went missing, Harper left the state, driving through Arizona to get to New Mexico. 

Gotfredson reported that the San Juan County Sheriff in New Mexico obtained a search warrant and deputies impounded the RV Harper drove to New Mexico taking evidence from inside. However, the RCSD has not provided any persons of interest or suspects regarding Abrams or any of the other missing people.

According to RMRU, their team of volunteers was dispatched to Abrams’ 160-acre ranch in the Apple Canyon area June 9. They conducted a search from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. with no success of finding Abrams.

RMRU went out again June 10 to search more difficult areas on the property including a creek bed and the hills overlooking her ranch. All assignments were completed by 6 p.m. At that point, detectives took over the investigation and called off the physical ground search.

The most recent woman to go missing from the Hemet/San Jacinto area is Diana Perez Gonzalez who was reported missing Dec. 11 and 27 years old at the time she went missing. According to family, Gonzalez visited the Idyllwild area regularly. She was last seen by her boyfriend.

Christy Rojas, Gonzalez’s sister, and her family are struggling with her sister missing.

Rojas said, “We’ve been terribly sad. We think about her every day and have dreams of her, waiting for any sign or a miracle because we miss her and love her a lot. But the most important, her baby needs her. We can see the sadness in her eyes. Although she can’t speak, we know she misses her mom.” Gonzalez is also pregnant.

The Town Crier recently reached out to Perez’s for any updates they may have received.

Rojas responded writing, “There are not relevant updates but thank you for asking. I’ll let you know if something new happens, God bless you.”

If you have any information regarding the whereabouts of Roy Prifogle, Lydia “Dia” Abrams, Diana Perez Gonzalez or Melissa Lane, contact the RCSD at 800-950-2444.