Neither sheriff nor PSPD took lead on missing person case
Last week, just before press time, another missing person was brought to the attention of the newspaper. Luis Alberto Artieda “was last known to be in Idyllwild from June 26 to 29,” according to a flyer. “His car was found on La Mirada Road and Ramona Road near North Lyyken Trailhead in the city of Palm Springs.” His vehicle was towed June 8 by the Palm Springs Police Department (PSPD) for being abandoned. The vehicle was “initially noticed June 3.”
PHOTO IMAGE COURTESY OF FACEBOOK
The Desert Sun reported in 2014, “The Cactus to Clouds trek stands out in a state known for its outdoor challenges. It’s a grueling 22-mile, 12-hour hike that starts at the Lykken Trail in Palm Springs, continues to the summit of Mount San Jacinto and ends at the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway’s Mountain Station.”
The newspaper contacted both Riverside County Sheriff’s Department (RCSD) Media Information Bureau (by email) and PSPD (by phone) and was told by PSPD that RCSD was in charge of the case. RCSD told the newspaper that PSPD was in charge and to contact that department.
When the newspaper responded to RCSD that PSPD said RCSD was in charge of this case, the newspaper was told the department is “currently reaching out to Palm Springs PD to try to see what is going on with this inquiry” and that they would be in touch. The newspaper has not received any further information from RCSD.
Artieda is 5’10” and 155 pounds. He is 53 years old.
If both agencies thought the other was in charge, who was actually trying to locate Artieda?
Five people in addition to Artieda, David O’Sullivan, Roy Prifogle, Melissa Lane, Lydia “Dia”Abrams and Diana Perez Gonzalez, remain missing.
O’Sullivan, who was last seen at the Idyllwild Inn April 7, 2017, was 25 years old when he went missing. The Fowler-O’Sullivan Foundation (FOF) website writes of O’Sullivan, “David [O’Sullivan] was thru-hiking NOBO on the Pacific Crest Trail [PCT] from Mexico to Canada. On April 6, 2017 he sent an email to his family from an Idyllwild library. O’Sullivan, who is from Ireland, intended to hike north into the San Jacinto Mountains the next day. He has not been seen since. There are several trails he could have taken to access the PCT from Idyllwild. We do not know which trail David took.”
PHOTO BY DAVID O’SULLIVAN
More about O’Sullivan can be read on the FOF website at https://www.fofound.org/cases/davidosullivan.
The FOF will be conducting searches for Prifogle and Lane.
Another search of the area where Prifogle went missing was conducted Sunday, April 18. “A search was completed on Sunday in the area where it was believed Roy [Prifogle] was last near,” the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department (RCSD) media information bureau wrote in an email response. “No evidence and or items were located during the search.” Before April 18, multiple searches had been conducted.
PHOTO COURTESY OF KENDRA JOHNSON
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.
Lane was last seen June 15, 2020. “I love my daughter so much and I’ve been praying for the other three families,” Lane’s mother Kathy Lamont said. “My heart tells me there is foul play somewhere.”
PHOTO COURTESY OF TODD GILLILAND
Lane’s cousin local Todd Gilliland was the last person to see her before she went missing. “I miss her a lot,” Gilliland said. “I wish we would get some kind of word about her. It’s nerve-racking. They [RCSD] have interviewed me once when she was reported missing and haven’t talked to me since. I was the last one to see her. You would think they’d want to go over it with me again.”
According to Lamont in December, the RCSD last searched in early September with cadaver dogs on Black Mountain Trail, north of Pine Cove, where Lane was last seen. The search came back with nothing.
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, 2020, Abrams was last seen by her self-proclaimed live-in boyfriend/fiancé Keith Harper at her ranch in Apple Canyon (between Mountain Center and Garner Valley). Since the initial search efforts more than a year ago, the RCSD has not provided new information or updates regarding her disappearance.
PHOTO COURTESY OF LYDIA ‘DIA’ ABRAMS
News 8’s David Gotfredson previously 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.
Riverside Mountain Rescue Unit conducted searches on Abrams’ property before assigning the case to detectives.
The most recent woman to go missing from the Hemet/San Jacinto area is 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.
PHOTO BY DIANA PEREZ GONZALEZ
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 was pregnant when she went missing.
