A California woman who disappeared last month after becoming stranded in the Arizona desert has been found dead.
Amanda Nenigar, 26, who vanished on February 28, was found naked under a tree just outside of Cibola, Arizona on Friday, around 1.5 miles from where her abandoned car was discovered on March 7.
Her cause of death has not been released, and La Paz County officials say they are working to perform an autopsy to gather more information about her death.
It comes as a chilling 911 call revealed Nenigar’s confusion as she tried to explain her whereabouts to a 911 operator, hours before she vanished.
Her family previously criticized the search by officials, and claim she provided near-exact coordinates to where her car was found as her sister Marissa told KKTV last week: ‘They could have found her.’
Amanda Nenigar, 26, was reported missing on February 28 after she became stranded out in the Arizona desert
On March 7, searchers found her vehicle abandoned in a remote area in Cibola, Arizona, around 20 miles from her home in Blythe, California. Her belongings were not in the car
Her sister Marissa (pictured) slammed the search and claimed they bungled the search for the missing 26-year-old as the dispatcher was confused by her location
In the 911 audio released last week, Nenigar was heard struggling to describe her surroundings to a dispatcher, saying: ‘Um, I’m not sure, I see a field.’
Nenigar’s family say the critical mistake that may have stopped searchers from finding her may have been the area that her 911 call was directed to.
The 26-year-old called from a remote location in Arizona, however the 911 call was directed to California dispatchers, which her family say contributed to the confusion over what she was describing.
Marissa said: ‘I don’t know why they didn’t transfer her to dispatch in Arizona. She gave them her exact location and someone could have went and got her. They could have found her.’
Nenigar was heard in the call sounding confused and describing vague landmarks, as a dispatcher asked her: ‘What are you surrounded with? Do you just see fields? Is that all you see?’
‘I’m like kind of in a valley,’ she responded.
‘Yeah, there’s just a lot of mountains… I climbed to like a high mountain and I’m wearing pink.’
The 911 operator asked her ‘so you’re on Highway 78, you think? And what would be the nearest cross streets?’
‘Um, I’m not sure, I see a field,’ Nenigar said, as the dispatcher admitted he was struggling to get a navigational signal from her call.
‘I’m trying to get a location on you, but I’m not getting one,’ he said.
The call was made on February 27, and Nenigar was reported missing by her family the next day after they couldn’t get hold of her.
Gray Television Inc Privacy Policy
The 26-year-old called from the remote location in Arizona, however the 911 call was directed to California dispatchers, which her family say contributed to the confusion over what she was describing
She was heard in the call struggling to describe her surroundings to a dispatcher, saying: ‘Um, I’m not sure, I see a field’
When the vehicle was discovered, its rear wheels were propped up on a boulder
After weeks of searches for the missing woman, her vehicle was found by the La Paz County Sheriff’s Office in a remote desert area in Cibola, Arizona – with its rear wheels propped on top of a boulder.
Her sister said at the time that the find left her family confused, as ‘she’s never been in that part of the desert, ever.’
‘It’s not a familiar area for her to go,’ sister Merissa Nenigar added.
She criticized authorities for what she deemed a bungled investigation, with the La Paz County Sheriff’s Office reportedly only becoming aware of the 911 call once they got involved.
It is not clear how much time passed between California investigators receiving the missing person’s tip and the Arizona sheriff’s office becoming aware of the 911 call.
The sheriff’s office discovered that the California dispatcher was confused by the coordinates that Nenigar gave over the phone.
Despite being heard in the 911 call asking Nenigar if she was on Highway 78, he reportedly sent cops to look for her along Highway 95, around 40 miles from where the car was found.
Once Arizona deputies joined the search and listened to the call, they were able to follow her coordinates to just over a mile from where the car was found.
Nenigar’s family said they were grateful for the efforts of searchers, after previously criticizing how her 911 call was directed to someone who didn’t understand the layout of her
Following the tragic news of her discovery, Nenigar’s family said they were devastated by the discovery but were grateful to the efforts of searchers.
‘We want to extend a huge thank you to everyone that helped in the search for Amanda Nenigar,’ the statement read.
‘The family is incredibly grateful to have people like each of you who have volunteered and dedicated their time and resources into finding her.
‘It is with a heavy heart that we must report to you all, she was found deceased last night… We have many questions and have been informed that her death is being investigated and an autopsy will follow.
‘Our hearts are broken and we will miss her dearly. Please grant our family privacy as we mourn the loss of Amanda and prepare for the days ahead of us.’
Before she was found dead, Marissa said her family were growing increasingly concerned as it was not like her to drop off the map so suddenly.
‘Her phone goes straight to voicemail. Different people have tried calling her because maybe, I don’t know, she wanted to disappear and she blocked everyone, but no, that’s not the case. Her phone is going directly to voicemail,’ Marissa added.
‘It’s been so many days like, what if she’s somewhere out there dead? Or what if she’s being human trafficked? What if somebody kidnapped her? I have no idea. Nobody knows.
‘We just want to know that she’s OK. We want her to come home.’