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Annette Adams, 75, disappeared last year while driving up the coast of California. More than a year after Adams vanished, the San Luis Obispo Police Department has recruited some help in the form of Adventures with Purpose, a volunteer team known for cracking cold cases.
“We’re happy to have the help,” police Capt. Brian Amoroso said. “We’re always looking for ways to try to find missing people and reunite them with loved ones.”
Adams was last seen driving a 2020 black Buick Enclave rental car on April 25, 2021, according to the California Department of Justice. The San Luis Obispo resident’s cell phone was last detected on Highway 1 near the ocean in Northern California, Amoroso said. “I don’t want to give exact locations because I don’t want other people out there trying to do their own thing,” Amoroso said.
Adams’ rental car was reported stolen on May 10, 2021, and Adams was reported missing the next day. Friends and family members told police Adams was struggling with her mental health at the time of her disappearance, according to Amoroso, though they reportedly didn’t know why she was driving up the coast. Adams drove to Northern California and Southern Oregon multiple times during the year before she went missing, her family told police.
“I believe she was a spiritual person, and that area of the state has more centers and places you can go to engage in those activities,” Amoroso said. “I think that’s what drew her to the area.” Based on the location that Adams’ phone was last detected, police think she either threw her phone out the window, her phone died and she never charged it again or she drove into the ocean. “The thought is maybe the vehicle was driven off the road — whether it was an accident or purposeful,” Amoroso said. “Many areas of Highway 1 are kind of right bordering the ocean where it would be possible for a car to just drive straight into the ocean.”
Adams hasn’t contacted friends or family or used social media since her disappearance, which is unusual for her, Amoroso said. Since May 2021, the San Luis Obispo Police Department has collaborated with Northern California law enforcement agencies to search for Adams, and even contacted the U.S. Coast Guard for assistance. Still, police haven’t found Adams or her vehicle
“In this particular area, there’s really not much there other than Highway 1 and the ocean and the rugged terrain,” Amoroso said. “It can be a challenging search.”
