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The Dark History of the Mojave Desert: April Beth Pitzer Is Missing
April Beth Pitzer wanted to get away for a while. At 30 years old, she was ready to leave Arkansas and spend some time in California after ending her marriage.
Upon arriving in Newberry Springs, California, April told her mother she found work as a waitress. It came to light several months later that this wasn’t exactly the case. April wasn’t working as a waitress, and she also had not been taking her medication to treat bipolar disorder. She had unfortunately found herself without a solid home. However, she had been working as a caregiver and hoped to get back on her feet.
Having two young daughters she missed, April planned on returning home. She apparently had a conversation with her roommate about going to see her family in Arkansas, and she claimed she would be traveling by bus. Some sources describe her saying she would be taking a trip, while others describe her as moving back home.
April was last seen in Newberry Springs on June 28, 2004, near the 30000 block of Caspian Way. She had apparently been picked up by a friend and dropped off at the bus station, but she never made it to Arkansas. On July 16, a friend reported her missing after discovering April had never made it to her destination. It is unclear if April ever got on a bus at all.
Eight months after April was reported missing, somebody in New Mexico tried to open a cell phone contract in her name. Authorities appear to have reasonable doubts about this being a substantial lead.
April’s Mother, Gloria, believes April may have been murdered by a drug dealer or somebody affiliated with a drug dealer. She believes the perpetrator left April’s body in an abandoned mine. Gloria has been an active participant in her daughter’s case and has even searched the desert herself.
In fact, some of April’s clothing and suitcase were found in a Ludlow mine shaft in 2005, not far from a bloody mattress. Unfortunately, the clothing had little to offer in terms of evidence because it had been exposed to the elements. No other signs of her whereabouts have come to light since. Authorities have searched several mines in the area to no avail.
