A 28-year-old US estate agent has been found wandering down a motorway in a ‘confused’ state three days after mysteriously vanishing from her home.
Laura Lynne Stacy was last seen on Sunday morning leaving her flat in Hollywood Hills, California.
Her mobile was found one day later in a puddle of water some 30 miles away at Golden Valley Park in Santa Clarita.
And the mystery deepened when her car was discovered on Tuesday night abandoned along the side of a road running through a remote desert area of Lancaster, California.
On Wednesday, officers combing the area for the missing woman spotted her walking along the 14 Freeway nearly 60 miles from her home, police told FOX 11 Los Angeles.
LAPD Detective Tim O'Quinn told KTLA that Stacy appeared “disoriented” and “confused” when she was found.
He added that there were “a lot of unknowns as to what transpired”.
Officials said she was taken to the hospital as a precaution and was going to be reunited with her family.
She was found to be suffering from dehydration and exposure to the cold after a storm ravaged the area.
Laura’s 2005 black Acura TL — covered with frost — was towed from the location early Wednesday morning.
A police source told the news outlet there were no “obvious signs of foul play” at the scene but said forensic testing was being carried out on the car.
Laura had moved to Los Angeles two months ago from her home in Denver, Colorado.
Her mum said on Wednesday that she believes her daughter – a keen photographer – visited Golden Valley Park to take pictures.
While there, she said she thinks her daughter dropped her mobile and was unable to use its GPS device when driving home.
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Marcy Stacy said she thinks her daughter got lost in bad weather conditions and pulled over along the side of the road.
A blanket and some food were found inside the vehicle, she said.
“I think she got lost when she was driving home,” the relieved mother told Fox News. “You can tell she was in the car for a while.”
“We think she ran out of gas and started walking,” she added.
Authorities on Wednesday conducted searches near Lancaster with helicopters and dogs for any sign of her.
Stacy’s roommate was the last person to see her at their apartment on Sunday.
At around 5am Monday morning, Stacy’s mother said she received a text from her daughter’s phone.
But the message came from a stranger who reported finding the phone on the ground at Golden Valley Park — about 30 miles from Laura’s apartment.
The phone was later turned in to the Los Angeles Police Department’s North Hollywood Station.
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