The Disappearance of Lydia Abrams

Name: Lydia Kenshalo Abrams
Nickname: Dia
Age: 65 years old
Last seen: June 6, 2020
Location: Mountain Center, California
Status: Still Missing

Case Information

65-year-old Lydia Abrams was last seen in Mountain Center, California on June 6, 2020. She disappeared from her ranch after having lunch with her fiance.

Background

Lydia Kenshalo Abrams was born on July 6, 1954, in San Diego, California. In 1984 she married Clem Abrams, a wealthy La Jolla, California real estate developer, with whom she had two children.

In 2018, Clem Abrams passed away after a long-term illness and nominated the couple’s two adult children, Crisara Brett Abrams and Clinton Karcher Abrams, as executors and trustees of his estate.

Lydia inherited some of her late husband’s properties as well as a marital trust established in 2016, nominating her daughter as trustee and leaving her children to be the beneficiaries in the event of her death.

She was soon involved in a court battle over her late husband’s estate and attempt to invalidate her prenuptial agreement, governing that their income remained separate property, as well as seeking more than $6.7 million from the estate to fund her marital trust.

On May 22, 2020, Abrams amended her trust and instead named Keith Harper, the manager of her ranch, and Diana Fedder, a neighbor and friend, as trustees of her estate and Harper as beneficiary in the event of her death.

At the time of her disappearance, Lydia Abrams was living on a ranch, known as Bonita Vista Ranch, that lies on a 116-acre property in Mountain Center, eleven miles east of Idyllwild, California.

Disappearance of Lydia Abrams

On June 6, 2020, Lydia Abrams was last seen at her ranch in Mountain Center, California. She was captured on a doorbell-cam footage that morning delivering cinnamon rolls to a neighbor undergoing medical treatment.

According to Keith Harper, the ranch’s manager, the two had lunch around 2:30 pm before he left to do some work around the property while Abrams allegedly went to tend to her horses at another property she owned in Garner Valley.

At 7:30 pm Harper returned to the ranch house after spending the afternoon mowing the meadow, but Abrams was nowhere to be seen.

Lydia “Dia” Abrams has never been heard from again. She left behind her purse, cellular phone, keys, and her vehicle, a Ford F-350 pickup truck, which was parked outside the house.

On June 7, 2020, Keith Harper filed a missing person’s report with the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office when Lydia did not return home.

Search Warrants Served On Bonita Vista Ranch

On June 8, 2020, Keith Harper left California in his recreational vehicle, just before deputies arrived to conduct a search of the property. He drove to Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado, allegedly for business before returning a week later.

Authorities impounded his recreational vehicle in New Mexico and removed a section of the front driver’s seat as evidence.

Authorities searched the Bonita Vista Ranch and found a tan bedsheet, a Band-Aid, and toilet paper, all stained with possible blood. Two spent bullet casings, two handwritten letters, and a Netgear router were also seized.

Keith Harper

74-year-old Keith Harper, a retired parole agent for the Utah Department of Corrections, was the manager of the Bonita Vista Ranch in Mountain Center.

Harper was involved in a relationship with Lydia Abrams after the two had met online in 2016. She had been estranged from her husband for years, and Harper subsequently moved in with her at the Bona Vista Ranch before they got engaged in June 2019.

Court records from 2002 show that Harper pleaded guilty to third-degree misdemeanor assault in connection with allegations made by his second wife. Felony charges of sexual assault and kidnapping were dropped due to lack of evidence.

In 2011, Harper was found guilty of three misdemeanor counts of unlawful sexual contact for groping two women on a snowmobile tour at his former business in Durango, Colorado. He was ordered to register as a sex offender in 2012.

Keith Harper continued to manage and live on the ranch as a trustee, under the terms of the trust agreement signed by Lydia Abrams before she disappeared.

Diana Fedder and Keith Harper took over the trust and began co-managing the Bonita Vista Ranch after Lydia vanished. According to Abrams’ children, Diana Fedder and Keith Harper had been in a romantic relationship before their mother’s disappearance.

Battle Over Estate Of Missing Bona Vista Ranch Owner

In July 2021, Abrams’ children filed a petition in court to remove Diana Fedder and Keith Harper as trustees of the estate, requesting instead the appointment of a neutral third party to manage the trust and estate.

On March 23, 2023, an agreement was reached that allowed Harper to continue managing the ranch as a trustee until the ranch or the livestock is sold. Another co-trustee was appointed by the court to help oversee and manage the trust.

On June 6, 2025, the trust will be split three ways, with Harper getting 50% and Abrams’ two children each getting 25%.

Ranch Employee Found Dead Under Suspicious Circumstances

On December 23, 2021, 46-year-old Jodi Newkirk, a horse handler and employee of the ranch since August, was found dead in what was reported as an All Terrain Vehicle rollover accident at the ranch.

Around 5:00 pm, Harper called 911 to report the ATV accident. Harper was performing CPR on Newkirk who was lying on the ground underneath the vehicle when deputies arrived on scene.

Deputies observed no major damage to the ATV and noted that the tire tracks leading to the vehicle ended abruptly behind it, indicating that the vehicle simply came to a stop.

There was also no trauma or injuries on Newkirk that would be consistent with a roll-over traffic collision. She was not wearing a helmet, and no helmet was found anywhere near the accident.

Authorities found multiple entries in Jodi Newkirk’s handwritten diary from weeks before her death indicating that she was in a relationship with Keith Harper. Harper denied being in a relationship with Newkirk and denied any involvement in her death.

In February 2022, Jodi Newkirk’s autopsy report listed her cause of death as “acute methamphetamine toxicity.” The manner of death remained “undetermined” as no evidence was found to determine if Newkirk administered the drugs to herself.

Newkirk had been a meth addict since the age of 15 and had numerous run-ins with the law. However, the amount of methamphetamine in her system appeared to be extremely high, even for a lifelong addict.

Whereabouts

Foul play is suspected in Lydia Abrams’s disappearance. She is presumed dead though her body has never been found.

The circumstances of Lydia’s disappearance remain unclear and her case is currently classified as missing. Her case remains unsolved.

Appearance

Physical Description:
White female born on July 6, 1954. Lydia has blonde hair, blue eyes, stands 5’5 tall, and weighs 130 pounds.

Distinctive Physical Features:
Lydia has a surgical scar on her abdomen and a scar on her lower back extending from hip to hip. Her ears are pierced.

Clothing and accessories:
Lydia was last seen wearing a yellow shirt, blue jeans, and a black/turquoise windbreaker jacket. She had four rings on her right hand.

Investigating Agency

If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Lydia Abrams please contact the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office at (951) 955-2450. Agency Case Number: D–201590018

Resources & Further Information

Lydia Kenshalo Abrams – State of California – Office of the Attorney General

News & Media Links

More than two years later, the California disappearance of Dia Abrams in June 2020 remains a mystery – NBC News 08/2022
Autopsy: Woman died of meth overdose on ranch near Idyllwild – CBS 8 San Diego 11/2022
New video released of Dia Abrams from the day she went missing – CBS 8 San Diego 06/2023
Disappearance of wealthy California ranch owner still a mystery after 3 years – The Mercury News 06/2023

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