In August 2019, as KABC reported, a 31-year-old woman named Amanda Kathleen Custer went missing. The circumstances of her disappearance were a bit more alarming than a person simply going hiking and getting lost, however. Specifically, Custer was kidnapped during a domestic violence incident near the mountains. Hours before, her alleged kidnapper, Robert Anthony Camou, was caught on video allegedly bragging about a woman he had buried in the dirt. A follow-up KCAL report noted that police found drops of blood and a tarp in Camou’s vehicle, possibly suggesting that her kidnapper intended to bury her in the woods. Custer’s father pleaded with the general public, particularly those who may have noticed something amiss while biking and/or hiking along the area’s trails, for any information about his daughter’s disappearance.
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According to the California Department of Justice, as of January 19, 2023, Custer is still considered a missing person. That did not stop authorities from charging Camou with capital murder, according to KNBC. In October 2019 he pleaded not guilty to those charges. His case appears to be ongoing.
