Missing California woman’s car found in Taos
TAOS — Police say a vehicle that might have been parked for as long as a year at an apartment complex in Taos was registered to a missing woman from San Bernardino County, Calif.
But so far, the unlocked vehicle has offered few clues on Krista Rae Bowman’s whereabouts.
Family members have told authorities that Bowman, who would now be 32, packed all of her belongings into her silver 2001 Toyota Avalon on March 14, 2017, and drove away from her mother’s residence in Morongo Valley, Calif. She told them she was headed to Colorado to visit her boyfriend, Christopher Starr Perfect.
In April 2017, after she reached Fort Garland, Colo., Bowman exchanged Facebook messages with family members, saying she had reunited with Perfect.
That was the last time they heard from her.
California law enforcement officials disseminated a missing-persons notice on Bowman in May. They later found Perfect in Wyoming, where he had been picked up on a parole violation.
According to the investigation, however, no one in that area had ever seen Bowman or heard of her.
In June, Bowman’s family told KESQ-TV, a news outlet based in the Palm Springs, Calif., area, they feared the worst.
No sign of Bowman had surfaced until last week, when someone reported to the Taos County Crime Stoppers that a suspicious vehicle, a silver Toyota Avalon, was parked outside the Cruz Alta Condominiums.
The caller suspected the car was stolen and said it had been parked in the lot for quite a while — possibly longer than six months.
Acting on the tip, Taos police Detective Barry Holfelder ran the vehicle’s license plate and discovered it was registered to Bowman. The department then began working with the San Bernardino County Sheriff ’s Department on its investigation into her disappearance.
“We are actively looking for anyone who saw the car be dropped off at the Cruz Alta Condominiums or has any information regarding the car, Ms. Bowman or Mr. Perfect,” Holfelder wrote in a news release.
He interviewed the manager of the apartment complex and learned that at least one resident remembered the car being parked there when he or she moved in May 3, 2017 — about a month after Bowman last spoke with her family.
With consent from Bowman’s family, Holfelder searched Bowman’s car this week. But all he recovered, he said, were some clothes and other personal belongings. There was no identification for Bowman in the Avalon.
“The vehicle had been left unlocked,” Holfelder said, and if anyone was inside it, that likely would complicate future forensic testing.
Holfelder has impounded the car pending further investigation.
A missing persons notice posted by the California Department of Justice describes Bowman as 5-foot-7 and 125 pounds, with a light complexion, hazel eyes and blond hair.
Tips related to Bowman’s disappearance can be submitted to Taos County Crime Stoppers at 575-758-4258 or to the San Bernardino County Sheriff ’s Department at 909-387-3695.
This story first appeared in The Taos News, a sister publication of The Santa Fe New Mexican.