Mother disappears on 'pandemic road trip' after home-schooling her son for three months

‘It was starting to get to her, the pressure and not having any income’, family says

A California woman has gone missing after she left home for a “pandemic road trip,” according to her family.

Authorities are searching for Erika Lloyd, 37 of Walnut Creek, California, who disappeared over a month ago after setting off on a long haul drive to Joshua Tree National Park on 14 June, ABC News reported.

Her family told ABC affiliate KESQ that Ms Lloyd went on the trip to help take her mind off the ongoing pandemic.

“Being in lockdown for almost three months not being able to work and she was trying to home school her son, it was starting to get to her, the pressure and not having any income,” her mother, Ruth Lloyd, said.

Ms Lloyd’s family said they lost contact with their daughter two days after she set off on the trip. They told the local broadcaster that they fear she may have been involved in an accident and become disorientated.

“We don’t know if she had some memory loss when she got hit by the airbag,” her mother said. “Maybe she doesn’t know who she is, we don’t know, we aren’t sure about her mental state.”

Authorities located her black Honda Accord, abandoned and damaged, on 16 June not far from her destination in Twentynine Palms, ABC News reported. A ranger at the park reportedly said it was not clear if Ms Lloyd had camped near the vicinity of her car.

The front and back windshields of Ms Lloyd’s car were broken, but police said there were no signs foul play was involved, the broadcaster said.

“When the vehicle was noticed inside of the campgrounds there was no camping equipment directly associated with or in the vicinity of it,” Nathan Lewis, a ranger at Joshua Tree National Park told KESQ.

“So we can’t confirm or deny that the individual camped or stayed in the park.”

Ms Lloyd’s parents are holding out hope that their daughter will be found and are desperate to find out any information in regards to her whereabouts.

“We both feel like that she could still be out here, she could be with people, somebody could have taken her in,” her father, Wayne Lloyd, told KESQ.

“We are hopeful as of this time the sheriff’s department hasn’t seen anything negative.”

Anyone who may have information on Ms Lloyd’s whereabouts should contact the Walnut Creek Police Department or the Morongo Basin California Highway Patrol office.