Idyllwild is a small mountain community with a population around 4,000. It is fairly remote, with the closest nearby city being Hemet about 20-25 miles away. It's about 30 miles away from Casino Morongo, and about 50 miles from Palm Springs (though Palm Springs would be fairly close if impassable mountains weren't in the way).
Anyway, it appears the area either has a serial killer, multiple killers, or some people with really bad luck.
There are now 6 people unrelated missing from Idyllwild since March. Five of the six are women.
Jade Kemerer vanished around July 22, last being seen at the Bluebird Inn there.
Venessa Vlasek disappeared in mid-May.
Melissa Lane went to go hiking in Idyllwild on June 15 "without a destination", and then vanished without a trace.
Lydia "Dia" Abrams is a 65-year-old who owns a large property in Idyllwild, and keeps many animals on the premises. She vanished on June 7, with her car and other personal belongings still at home.
73-year-old Rosario Garcia is from nearby Hemet, and vanished in Pinyon Pines, which is 40 miles southeast of Hemet, and 26 miles from Idyllwild. Garcia's car was found empty on the highway on July 7.
The lone missing male was also the one which dates the farthest back. Roy Prifogle was an Idyllwild local who went out on a hike on March 4. He was seen at a market at 6:30pm, about 5 hours after starting his hike, and then vanished into thin air. Given that Prifogle hasn't been heard from in 5 months, it's safe to assume he's dead.
Now, there are various possible explanations here which don't involve serial killers. I googled all the names involved and came up with a few things.
Three of the missing people -- Jade Kemerer, Melissa Lane, and Venessa Vlasek all had fairly unstable ilves. Kemerer, in fact, has an arrest record.
Rosario Garcia is thought to suffer from some degree dementia or Alzheimer's.
Hiking accidents also occur all the time, and usually missing solo hikers are the result of an accident or health issue, rather than anything sinister. (Remember the sports handicapper who completely vanished at Mount Charleston, only to be found having died from falling off a cliff, after an extensive search?) That could explain the disappearances of Roy Prifogle and Melissa Lane.
The most suspicious disappearance of the bunch was that of Lydia "Dia" Abrams. Lydia was not going out to hike, her vehicle and belongings were still on her property, and she was a successful ranch owner. She is 65, but was not known to be suffering from any significant mental decline (which wouldn't be all that common at 65, anyway). She vanished into thin air. I'm guessing someone kidnapped and/or killed her. Whether this criminal is responsible for all or most of these other disappearances is a big question.
Someone I know in Idyllwild told me that this entire situation is highly unusual, and that they've never seen this many people vanish at once. If I had to guess, something pretty bad is going on there.
Here's an article about the missing people: https://idyllwildtowncrier.com/2020/...ssing-in-area/
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Originally Posted by lol wow
