San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department/ Facebook
- Authorities found "unidentified human remains" in California as the search for Lauren Cho continues.
- The remains have been sent to the San Bernadino County coroner to identify the remains and cause of death, which could take weeks, police said.
- Lauren Cho of New Jersey was last seen on June 28 in Yucca Valley, California, police said.
California police said they found "unidentified human remains" on October 9 in their search for missing New Jersey woman Lauren Cho.
Cho, 30, has been missing since June 28, according to the San Bernadino County Sheriff's Department. She was last seen at approximately 5:10 p.m. when she "walked away from the residence where she was staying" on Benmar Trail in Yucca Valley.
Police said the unidentified remains were found in the "rugged terrain of the open desert of Yucca Valley."
"The remains were transported to the San Bernardino County Coroner's Division where staff will work to identify the remains and determine a cause of death. The identification process could take several weeks," San Bernadino authorities said in a statement on Facebook. The department did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
Thus far in their search, authorities have used search dogs and aerial surveillance of the "remote mountain terrain near the scene," the department said in the statement.
Cho was a teacher in New Jersey before she quit to move with a friend to California, Insider's Taylor Ardrey reported. A friend who last saw Cho said she "evaporated" after walking towards the hills between Yucca and Morongo Valley.
Anyone with information on Cho's whereabouts is urged to contact the Specialized Investigations Division at (909) 387-3589, the statement from the sheriff's department said.