CA - Woman found dead along Pine Ridge Trail near Sykes Hot Springs, Big Sur, 9 April 2026

[mrstfs]

Snippets from the linked article below:

MONTEREY COUNTY, Calif. —
A hike into the Big Sur wilderness turned deadly for a woman whose body was found Thursday afternoon along the Pine Ridge Trail near Sykes Hot Springs.

Her body was discovered Thursday morning by a group of hikers who spoke with KSBW after returning from their two-night hike in the backcountry.
The hikers said they also came across a man who claimed to be the woman’s friend. They said he appeared cold and was shaking.

Weather and darkness prevented search-and-rescue crews from recovering the woman’s body until Friday afternoon, but her death is now being treated as suspicious by the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office.

Big Sur hikers recount discovery of woman found dead near hot springs

A hike into the Big Sur wilderness turned deadly for a woman whose body was found Thursday afternoon along the Pine Ridge Trail near Sykes Hot Springs.

www.ksbw.com

Woman hasn’t been identified yet.

 

[MerBeach]

How terrible! Poor woman. What was described in the article is horrific.

 

[mrstfs]

I wonder when the public will find out who this poor woman is and who is her “friend”?

 

[SophieRose]

Woman found dead in Big Sur identified; death deemed suspicious

The Monterey County Sheriff's Office has identified a woman who was found dead under what they say are suspicious circumstances in the Ventana Wilderness area of Los Padres National Forest.

www.ksbw.com

The Monterey County Sheriff's Office has identified a woman who was found dead under what they say are suspicious circumstances in the Ventana Wilderness area of Los Padres National Forest.

She was identified on Monday as 37-year-old Joanna Ruth Shields of Carlsbad, California, per the sheriff's office.

Facebook

www.facebook.com

 

[SophieRose]

Carlsbad woman’s naked body found in the woods of Big Sur: ‘Shocked’

The body of the woman from Carlsbad, California, was discovered by hikers on a trail last week, leaving them shocked while hiking along the Pine Ridge Trail near Sykes Hot Springs.

nypost.com

Shields’ sister, Claudia Robinson, confirmed Shields’ death, which she says happened because of a “tragic event,” in an Instagram post.

“We found out late Saturday evening and we’re all in different stages of grief as we attempt to process such a devastating blow to our hearts,” Robinson wrote.

 

[Dotta]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2046756953444020706

 

[Vaderman]

I wonder if they've located the friend yet...

Big Sur hikers recount discovery of woman found dead near hot springs

A hike into the Big Sur wilderness turned deadly for a woman whose body was found Thursday afternoon along the Pine Ridge Trail near Sykes Hot Springs.

www.ksbw.com

The hikers said they also came across a man who claimed to be the woman’s friend. They said he appeared cold and was shaking.

“Scared, nervous, like shocked, his face just, like, numb and dull,” hiker John Heerema said.

“On one hand, we didn’t know if he was just having the worst day of his life or, on the other, like he had just killed someone, so I just went in with, like, all right, just be ultra-cautious, slow things down and make sure everyone’s safe,” his brother, Luke Heerema, added.

When the hikers asked what happened, the woman’s friend told them this:

“She went to the bathroom. She was cleaning herself off in the river around 10:30 a.m., and he went looking for her and then just saw her face down in the water, naked,” Luke Heerema said.