North Carolina woman found alive months after car found near Death Valley
A missing North Carolina woman was found alive in Colorado more than eight months after her disappearance.
Kelsey Pittman's family last spoke to her in November 2024, the Inyo County Sheriff's Office said in a news release. Inyo County is home to California's Death Valley National Park. Pittman was 33 at the time.
Pittman was last seen in St. George, Utah, on Dec. 2, 2024, in the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, or NAMUS.
On Feb. 5, 2025, deputies from the Inyo County Sheriff's Office and the National Park Service were called to a remote area of Death Valley after receiving a report of an abandoned car on private property, the sheriff's office . Death Valley is about 260 miles from St. George.
The area where the car was located is commonly used by campers during the winter months, the sheriff's office said. Officials confirmed the car, a 2009 Chevrolet HHR with North Carolina plates, was registered to Pittman.
Law enforcement searched the vehicle and surrounding area, but found no sign of Pittman. The sheriff's office began a missing person investigation and for months "coordinated with multiple law enforcement agencies, drone teams, cadaver dog handlers, and volunteer search and rescue crews" to search for Pittman. There was no additional physical evidence found near the site where the car was found, the sheriff's office said.
Pittman's case was listed on NAMUS in May 2025. Her mother assisted with the investigation and told law enforcement that her daughter may have used aliases including "Infinity Jane" and "Jane Jones," the sheriff's office on July 2.
The sheriff's office said on July 22 that Pittman had been found alive in Colorado. They did not specify where in Colorado. No information was given about Pittman's condition. The Inyo County Sheriff's Office said that no further details will be provided "out of respect for" Pittman's privacy and her family. CBS News reached out to the sheriff's office for comment.
"We thank our ICSO investigative team, along with the many law enforcement partners, search and rescue volunteers, and community members who assisted in this case and helped share information," the sheriff's office said.
