CA CA - Lydia "Dia" Abrams, 65, Idyllwild, 6 Jun 2020 #2

[jash]

June 4th 2023 very lengthy article.

Disappearance of wealthy Riverside County ranch owner still a mystery after 3 years

Dia Abrams’ disappearance is an intriguing tale of wealth, family estrangement and heated litigation over her assets.

www.ocregister.com

''What happened to Dia Abrams?
View attachment 426540

Bonita Vista Ranch owner Dia Abrams, right, and ranch hand Jodi Newkirk. (Illustration by Staff Artist Jeff Goertzen)

''The answer has eluded Riverside County sheriff’s investigators for three years and baffled residents of the San Jacinto Mountains where Abrams abruptly disappeared on June 6, 2020.

It is a whodunit shrouded in a tale of wealth, family estrangement and heated litigation that continues to intrigue and attract attention from local and national media.

“It’s like being in a ‘Dateline’ mystery,” said Peggy Kotner, Abrams’ sister. Asked what she thinks happened to her sister, Kotner said, “Your guess is as good as mine. I really want to know.”

Abrams, who was 65 when she vanished, is presumed dead, though her body has never been found.

Abrams’ disappearance​

Abrams had been estranged for years from her husband, a wealthy La Jolla developer who died in 2018. She loved the outdoors and animals, so in about 2004 or 2005 she decided to trade the affluent seaside community in San Diego County for a tranquil 115-acre ranch in Mountain Center.
Abrams “just wanted to get away from the stress of things and be around animals,” said Julie Stanford, a retired postal worker and Mountain Center resident who met Abrams in 2011 while working part-time at the Lake Hemet Market.''

''Living on the Bonita Vista Ranch with Abrams was Keith Leslie Harper, a retired parole agent for the Utah Department of Corrections with a sketchy past who had served time behind bars. In a 2022 deposition, Harper said he and Abrams met in 2016 on a dating website.

After Harper flew into Ontario International Airport to meet up with Abrams, the two quickly hit it off and Harper said he moved in with her at the ranch six months later. Harper said he worked to upgrade Abrams’ property, building dams, bridges, fences and helping care for her animals.

Harper also claimed to be Abrams’ fiance.

In public statements and the sworn deposition given in a legal dispute with Abrams’ children over control of her multimillion-dollar estate, Harper, 73, said he was the last person to have seen Abrams before she went missing sometime after 2:30 p.m. on June 6, 2020.''

Thanks for posting. There is so much suspicion around KH.

“He didn’t get involved with us at all, which gave me a bad gut feeling,” said one man who participated in the search but asked not to be identified. “If it were my fiancee and someone I loved, I’d want to be involved. You don’t run away a few hours before (police) get here to do a search. And yet that’s exactly what he did — he packed up his RV and he took off. What in the world?”

...[RI], whose wife played bunco with Abrams, also participated in the search, and cast doubt on Harper’s claim about mowing the meadow.

“That meadow was not freshly mowed. I walked through it. There were weeds up to my knees. There were foxtails in my pants and socks,”...

Additionally, [RI] recalls Harper telling him during the first search that he had been working on a building on the property — not mowing the meadow — when Abrams went missing.

“He said nothing about the meadow,”...

Diana Fedder, a retired U.S. Secret Service agent and friend of Abrams who helped organize the search, said Harper told her he had to leave the state to check in with his probation officer, which is inconsistent with his deposition testimony two years later.

Harper did not respond to requests for comment regarding Abrams’ disappearance, but has denied having anything to do with it.

www.ocregister.com/2023/06/04/disappearance-of-wealthy-riverside-county-ranch-owner-still-a-mystery-after-3-years/

 

[SandyQLS]

Disappearance of wealthy Riverside County ranch owner still a mystery after 3 years

Dia Abrams’ disappearance is an intriguing tale of wealth, family estrangement and heated litigation over her assets.

www.ocregister.com

"...Keith Leslie Harper, a retired parole agent for the Utah Department of Corrections...

...Diana Fedder, a retired U.S. Secret Service agent..."

Maybe Dia just didn't have enough "friends". I do not feel safe knowing that a wealthy 65 y/o widow with a pristine past can be disappeared and all her property and money stolen, and the "friends" of the beneficiaries gosh darn! cannot find any evidence.

 

[pentimento]

Just revisiting this case so I'm not up to speed on everything, but I was suddenly stuck by the thought that she might have voluntarily disappeared. I guess it was the Secret Service reference, LOL. This may be way out there, but she changed her will just prior and as I recall wasn't she fearful of her son for some reason? Could she come out better off financially somehow this way especially if she felt that was threatened? Maybe it's a silly thought, but I just thought I'd throw it out there.

 

[tvscum]

Video released of Dia Abrams from the day she went missing 3 years ago

Abrams seen on doorbell-cam video hours before she disappeared in 2020.

www.cbs8.com

 

[Buttersbetter]

Agreed. It would be of immense value to see the handwriting confirmed. [moo] But to not have it confirmed seems almost in keeping with the nature of this case in that seemingly easily obtainable information is either not sought, or it is withheld (eg. Dia delivering baked goods the assumed day she disappeared).


It's stated she was a long time meth user. Meth-induced psychosis may play a part in this. That is the primary reason for me being on the fence on accepting the veracity of the journal contents.


Oh there's no doubt that the combination of events creates heightened suspicion.
On the other hand ... in a scenario where KH isn't the bad guy, it's a near picture perfect set-up.


IIRC, KH was put on the sex offenders list due to his previous "actions" involving a woman on a snowmobile. If we take these stories at face value, I suspect the life-altering consequences of that event formed part of his decision making process.


Again, agreed. A lot of suspicions. Many if not most are reasonable. I just wish we had more facts to filter them with.

1. I can verify that the journal entries and letters that Jodi wrote were written while she was living, and were written by her. Some notes, letters, and entries are even dated. Nothing was fabricated.
2. There is video proof from a doorbell camera that the cinnamon rolls were delivered to the neighbor's front door.
3. I can verify that although Jodi was at times what some would call paranoid, she was not in a state of meth-induced psychosis in the days leading up to her death. She was in contact with close friends and family members the day before and the morning of her death.

 

[Curious Me]

It's three years today since Dia's been missing. I still don't know why her family didn't put up a big reward right in the beginning when she mysteriously disappeared. Usually, family pleads with the public for help finding their loved ones. Well, perhaps they felt it best to remain so quiet for that first year.

What a wonderful person Dia was to bring baked goods to her sick neighbor. What happened to Dia that day? We hear that there was no long hours of mowing the pasture from the looks of it from a witness. How is it possible someone got away with some kind of foul play? We haven't forgotten and we all want Justice for Dia. ​

 

[imstilla.grandma]

“It’s an actual video verification that she was alive Saturday morning,” said Clinton Abrams, the missing woman’s son.

Abrams’ neighbor released the video to CBS 8, asking that she not be identified or interviewed for this report.

“My understanding is that her neighbor said that what she really felt like eating were cinnamon rolls, and that she had had cancer or was undergoing chemotherapy. And so, my mother baked her cinnamon rolls that morning,” said Clinton Abrams.

The son spoke with CBS 8 from the family's home on Mt Soledad, three years to the day after his mother went missing.

“I can't believe that it hasn't been solved. I can't believe that people haven't spoken up and come out with the truth because I know a lot of people actually know what happened,” said Abrams.

The timeline of Dia Abrams’ disappearance is almost entirely based on statements made by her boyfriend, Keith Harper, who admitted in a deposition last year that he was the last person to see Abrams alive at her Bonita Vista Ranch in Mountain Center.

“The last I saw her was approximately 2:30 p.m. when I had lunch with her,” Harper said during his deposition in June 2022.

Video released of Dia Abrams from the day she went missing 3 years ago

Abrams seen on doorbell-cam video hours before she disappeared in 2020.

www.cbs8.com

 

[sleuther007]

1. I can verify that the journal entries and letters that Jodi wrote were written while she was living, and were written by her. Some notes, letters, and entries are even dated. Nothing was fabricated.
2. There is video proof from a doorbell camera that the cinnamon rolls were delivered to the neighbor's front door.
3. I can verify that although Jodi was at times what some would call paranoid, she was not in a state of meth-induced psychosis in the days leading up to her death. She was in contact with close friends and family members the day before and the morning of her death.

Thank you – I appreciate the clarification and confirmations.

There have been comments made suggesting he was keeping her in essential servitude, or at the very least was playing with her. Are you able to elaborate on her relationship with Harper? Or her work conditions/contract with him and the ranch?

 

[Curious Me]

Video released of Dia Abrams from the day she went missing 3 years ago

Abrams seen on doorbell-cam video hours before she disappeared in 2020.

www.cbs8.com

This is all MOO as I go back trying to remember facts that have unfolded from first following this case, and how I saw it three years ago and what's developed since then.

Keep in mind, as far as I know, Dia's children did not know she changed the paperwork or Trusteeship. When she first went missing, they assumed they could take control of her property. Then DF, the former secret service agent, showed them the new POA paperwork.

Remember that KH and DF swore that Dia did not want her children to get any of her estate. Remember that it was implied Dia was afraid of her own son. Remember there was a court battle Dia had with her children and they were blocking her. (I think she may have felt property rich and cash poor, as it takes a great deal of money to maintain and run the ranch property.)

She also wanted that prenup disregarded. She signed that prenuptial agreement and stayed married to Clem all those 30+ years. That agreement denied her, and set her up to have to have court battles with the children.

I did question if her relationship was that close or loving with them. The silence with no rewards or pleas to the public that first year from her own children bothered me. KH has pointed the finger at Dia's son, and son is pointing the finger at KH.

Dia's son says now that they spent thousands hiring a PI and quietly running searches. He says lots of people may know what really happened, but are not divulging that info to LE. Will a reward now get results? There was no reward offered in the beginning by them.

Lots of suspicious behavior, actions, and developments surrounding KH. Dia's son points the finger at KH, but says he's not smart enough to have done all the intricate planning and execution by himself. Her son says KH had help, and that there may be a connection to "organized crime".

This is of great interest to me and I would like to hear more. With all the investigating that has gone on, then surely, they know how KH and DF were part of a plan along with "organized crime". What's the theory?

Remember how the attorney Dia went to changing the paperwork was not the same attorney she used before, and that attorney also notarized the paperwork which is normally not done by the same person. We questioned the signatures looking copied. So many things that did not make sense and that seemed suspicious in this whole case of the missing Dia Abrams.

Whoever was involved wants all the facts to be forgotten as time passes. Forgive me if I sound suspicious of everything. I hope you will remember all the odd inconsistencies and unexplained reasoning why Dia went and changed the Trusteeship only weeks before disappearing. MOO, so much about this case raises suspicion every which way. Three years now and no arrests. ​

 

[cocomod]

This is all MOO as I go back trying to remember facts that have unfolded from first following this case, and how I saw it three years ago and what's developed since then.

Keep in mind,

Whoever was involved wants all the facts to be forgotten as time passes. Forgive me if I sound suspicious of everything. I hope you will remember all the odd inconsistencies and unexplained reasoning why Dia went and changed the Trusteeship only weeks before disappearing. MOO, so much about this case raises suspicion every which way. Three years now and no arrests. ​

RSBM - Great Post!! I am still here wishing for justice and answers!

 

[stuntpuppy]

RSBM - Great Post!! I am still here wishing for justice and answers!

I am also so glad that people are still concerned. I want justice...I want answers as well. If Dia really was there that morning that closes the door on some of my worries. That doesn't mean that the people responsible did not plan it way ahead of time...but it would mean that hey executed the plan on the same day he called her in missing. So!!! either a third party came and took her away that morning or she is still there some place. My guess is that she was taken that morning by a co-consiprator who has a stake in this sham for money. Could be the grower people working with Harper...Hell he may have rented them the property to grow for a cut or even been part of it from the beginning. I would love some answers...

 

[RDJ0091]

Dateline: Missing in America podcast covers the June 2020 disappearance of Dia Abrams in Mountain Center, California

 

[Curious Me]

You have to see this news segment. I saw it on the local news, but can't find it posted on their news site yet. In the meantime, I'll share what I saw.

News8 and David Gotfredson obtained a video of Jodi Newkirk a few months before her "accidental" death. Apparently, KH invited some woman name Rossellini, a photographer, to the ranch, but when she got there only Jodi was there. I believe this is video obtained from that woman Rossellini. MOO, from what I saw of the video, Jodi looked lovely, was fine and gracious. Jodi gave the woman a tour of the house. The woman shares how KH eventually started to give her the creeps. ​

News Headlines | cbs8.com

News headlines from CBS8 KFMB in San Diego, California

www.cbs8.com

 

[Curious Me]

INVESTIGATIONS

New video released of woman who died on ranch near Idyllwild​

Jodi Newkirk gave a photographer a tour of the property three months before she died.

New video released of woman who died on ranch near Idyllwild

Jodi Newkirk gave a photographer a tour of the property three months before she died.

www.cbs8.com

 

[tvscum]

The long version:

 

[Curious Me]

Here it is for you to watch. Note what Rosselinni, 28, has to say about how KH came across. The video is 7:39 minutes long. What a find. If only they could find Dia now.​

New video released of woman who died on ranch near Idyllwild

Jodi Newkirk gave a photographer a tour of the property three months before she died.

www.cbs8.com

MOUNTAIN CENTER, Calif. — Newly released cell phone video shows Jodi Newkirk three months before she died under suspicious circumstances in 2021 on a ranch near Idyllwild.

It’s the same ranch where La Jolla millionaire Dia Abrams lived when she went missing in 2020. Abrams was never found.

A photographer recorded the video of Newkirk on Sept. 18, 2021 during a walkaround tour of the Bonita Vista Ranch

We’re building a bridge over here. We're doing a wedding on the 15th of next month,” Newkirk said during the videotaped tour.

The photographer requested that she only be identified by her first name, Rosselinni.

She said a man named Keith Harper had randomly invited her to check out the property in 2021.... continued in article.​

Video: Jodi Newkirk walks photographer on a tour of the Bonita Vista Ranch near Idyllwild

 

[stuntpuppy]

Here it is for you to watch. Note what Rosselinni, 28, has to say about how KH came across. The video is 7:39 minutes long. What a find. If only they could find Dia now.​

New video released of woman who died on ranch near Idyllwild

Jodi Newkirk gave a photographer a tour of the property three months before she died.

www.cbs8.com

MOUNTAIN CENTER, Calif. — Newly released cell phone video shows Jodi Newkirk three months before she died under suspicious circumstances in 2021 on a ranch near Idyllwild.

It’s the same ranch where La Jolla millionaire Dia Abrams lived when she went missing in 2020. Abrams was never found.

A photographer recorded the video of Newkirk on Sept. 18, 2021 during a walkaround tour of the Bonita Vista Ranch

We’re building a bridge over here. We're doing a wedding on the 15th of next month,” Newkirk said during the videotaped tour.

The photographer requested that she only be identified by her first name, Rosselinni.

She said a man named Keith Harper had randomly invited her to check out the property in 2021.... continued in article.​

Video: Jodi Newkirk walks photographer on a tour of the Bonita Vista Ranch near Idyllwild

I also find it interesting that she died of an overdose yet was supposed to have been killed crashing and ATV. More lies and more suspicion. The entire case has been a deception from the start in my opinon. I think and have always thought that Harper knows exactly where Dia is too!

 

[Megnut]

Long shot but I wish, if they haven't, LE would find strands of Dia's hair and test it. Jodi's too. Specifically for heavy metal poisoning. If they had hair they she'd on clothing or in hairbrushes, would trace elements be detectable after all this time?

I'd Dia was friendly and trusting, I can see why she might miss attempts by someone to take over the estate.... and I can see why grown children might be concerned and might have better vantage. Controlling the purse strings.... so Dia couldn't accidentally "give away the farm" as it were. Just looking out for her....

Dia didn't disappear or die herself IMO.

And she also didn't remove herself from the property.

Someone else did. Someone who wanted control of her property but had no legal means to do it.

Who had access to Dia that day? Who had the capacity to relocate her swiftly?

I don't think Dia would've left that beautiful place voluntarily. I think it's very possible she was relocated involuntarily and killed offsite....

Which is why she hasn't been found.

JMO

 

[Curious Me]

I also find it interesting that she died of an overdose yet was supposed to have been killed crashing and ATV. More lies and more suspicion....​

Excellent point, @stuntpuppy. What you said bears repeating.

After all this time, IMO, it's always KH's name that keeps popping up for his weird, brazen behavior and giving women the creeps coming on to them, and basically misleading them. (MOO-- sounds like a shifty dog and a player to me, to say the very least.) He was there in two women's suspicious death's.

Yes, Dia disappeared, but even LE said suspected Homicide. No one else's name has popped up with such suspicious behavior as KH's name. He's always working it, trying to manipulate and charm to his benefit. MOO, he got more of a devoted labor from Jodi making her think they had a relationship. What did he want from the photographer Rossellini, acting like a friendly older man then basically trying to come on to her?

It was some kind of conspiracy to take Dia's property. A very bold, gutsy move. LE can't seem to prove either women died needlessly and get an arrest! Somehow there has been absolutely no Justice for Dia, or Jodi.

KH has taken over the ranch property and lives there acting like it's all his. MOO, charms but always to get something for himself, be it money or convenience. Comes and goes as he pleases. Jodi ended up taking on more thinking she was part of a "we". "We're having a wedding on the property next month."

I believe there are others who know something. Perhaps there are others that helped, that were involved. It was an intricate plan to take Dia's property away from her, and someone or some people got away with it.

This is all MOO. If KH, then he went up, unafraid, against her children. The children's silence at first made me uncomfortable. Now, an agreement has been reached to divide up Dia's estate, and apparently everyone is satisfied. Really? That's all the Justice to be hoped for, dividing up her property?

I don't understand why DF has not shouted from the rooftops to seek Justice for her friend Dia. That, too, is suspicious. I don't understand why LE hasn't been able to make an arrest. MOO, seems the man may be dangerous. How many more women will end up dead?

It's been uncomfortable following this case. Sorry, for the long post, but Dia and Jodi deserve some ruckus made to get some Justice because their deaths can't be forgotten and dismissed.

Please respect that all of this all MOO.​

 

[stuntpuppy]

Excellent point, @stuntpuppy. What you said bears repeating.

After all this time, IMO, it's always KH's name that keeps popping up for his weird, brazen behavior and giving women the creeps coming on to them, and basically misleading them. (MOO-- sounds like a shifty dog and a player to me, to say the very least.) He was there in two women's suspicious death's.

Yes, Dia disappeared, but even LE said suspected Homicide. No one else's name has popped up with such suspicious behavior as KH's name. He's always working it, trying to manipulate and charm to his benefit. MOO, he got more of a devoted labor from Jodi making her think they had a relationship. What did he want from the photographer Rossellini, acting like a friendly older man then basically trying to come on to her?

It was some kind of conspiracy to take Dia's property. A very bold, gutsy move. LE can't seem to prove either women died needlessly and get an arrest! Somehow there has been absolutely no Justice for Dia, or Jodi.

KH has taken over the ranch property and lives there acting like it's all his. MOO, charms but always to get something for himself, be it money or convenience. Comes and goes as he pleases. Jodi ended up taking on more thinking she was part of a "we". "We're having a wedding on the property next month."

I believe there are others who know something. Perhaps there are others that helped, that were involved. It was an intricate plan to take Dia's property away from her, and someone or some people got away with it.

This is all MOO. If KH, then he went up, unafraid, against her children. The children's silence at first made me uncomfortable. Now, an agreement has been reached to divide up Dia's estate, and apparently everyone is satisfied. Really? That's all the Justice to be hoped for, dividing up her property?

I don't understand why DF has not shouted from the rooftops to seek Justice for her friend Dia. That, too, is suspicious. I don't understand why LE hasn't been able to make an arrest. MOO, seems the man may be dangerous. How many more women will end up dead?

It's been uncomfortable following this case. Sorry, for the long post, but Dia and Jodi deserve some ruckus made to get some Justice because their deaths can't be forgotten and dismissed.

Please respect that all of this all MOO.​

It's starting to look like KH is going to win. Even with all the court moves he will probably get go away money before it's over or get control of the ranch as well...who knows. He sure looks like he's sticking around for something. A typical case of there being something to gain and the one gaining is the only one who knows what happened to the original owner. Very and I mean very suspicious. I'm sure LE is just as eager as we are to close this case with an arrest and conviction. But that is looking more and more remote.