This is an intriguing one. I think it is odd that neither Erin's mother nor husband apparently discouraged her from going wandering alone in a national park, because that does not strike me as safe in the first place.
Besides that, we know the following:
1. Erin spoke to her mother Friday
2. Erin left the house at 7am Saturday morning
3. There was supposedly a sighting at JTNP on Saturday morning sometime after 7 am, and that is apparently the basis for the search
4. Erin's car was found Monday
Provided that those are correct facts, there isn't anything to go on. Nothing for us to do but go round and round with speculation until more is released.
Logic and sleuthing experience dictates that the husband must be looked at first.
It is not in the husband's favor that he did not report her missing for so long. Many young guys are kind of overly laid back and slow to alarm, but that amount of time is pretty extreme.
The other possibilities are meeting up with the wrong stranger or foul play involving an acquaintance. Since we know nothing about anyone in the vicinity or Erin's friends and acquaintences, this is a black hole of information.
I wish we knew more about:
1. the Saturday morning sighting
2. Erin's friends and acquaintances on base. She has been there since last fall, she must have made at least one friend even if she was an introvert.
Frustrating.
ETA: They are probably soliciting donations so the family members can afford to stay in California as long as they need to.
"If my wife didn't show up for dinner, Id report her missing sooner but I dont know what the family dynamic is between Erin and her husband," Naquin said. "I don't know if they were used to spending a lot of time apart. And I also dont know if there were problems between Erin and her husband."
They probably do not know what she was wearing and it may not be easy to tell what is missing, if it is something basic. No point in giving out a wild guess.
Wish we knew where the car was found, so we could find out if there are cameras nearby. But a local would probably know that, although criminals are famously careless about stuff like that, Imo.
Good question...
I just pulled out one of our entrance payment receipts from another National Park (Canyonlands)...they are all pretty standard...
There is, indeed, a time stamp on it...
However... I googled Joshua Tree National Park for entrance hours... They do not open until 9:00 a.m. each day of the week...
The park is always open and may be visited anytime of year. Visitation increases as temperatures moderate in the fall, peaks during spring wildflower season, and diminishes during the heat of summer.
Cottonwood Visitor Center
Open All Year; 9 am to 4 pm daily
Black Rock Nature Center
Open October through May
8 am to 4 pm except on Friday; Noon to 8 pm on Friday
Oasis Visitor Center
Open All Year; 8:30 am to 5 pm
Joshua Tree Visitor Center
Open All Year; 8 am to 5 pm
In today's age, so many young adults are glued to their phone (and older people are too). I can't wrap my mind around no phone call, but it is even more difficult to imagine no texting at all between Erin and others. Or for her to have taken a pic of the park and sent it to her husband or to a friend.
And did she stay all night at this so called ranch (or wherever) before? Did she pack a bag and take her phone charger and her toothbrush, etc.?
Cell phone coverage is spotty in the park; do not depend on your cell phone in an emergency. An emergency-only phone is located at Intersection Rock parking area, next to Hidden Valley Campground. A second emergency-only phone is attached to the ranger station at Indian Cove.
“Okay, well, we have a myriad of park rangers and search & rescue volunteers for the national park that can go do what you're attempting to do; so come on back out of there and as soon as you get cell service give me a call,” the unidentified sergeant instructs the deputy.
On the Facebook page,someone with initials AM stated on the Military base they will not take a missing person report for an adult before 24 hours ..
I wonder about surveillance cameras. IMO, they have something to indicate Erin actually went to JTNP. Did she accidentally stumble onto something someone didn't want her to see? I can't imagine why LE would be searching that park if they don't know she actually made it there.
Eric and Ben, both 17, were recorded on a surveillance camera entering Joshua Tree National Park on July 14 and setting up camp at Jumbo Rocks campground
Entrances to the park are equipped with multiple surveillance cameras. Reached by telephone Tuesday, a Joshua Tree chief ranger declined to comment on whether Corwin had been spotted entering or exiting the park on surveillance.