Investigators and search dogs turned their focus to a desert town north of Los Angeles on Friday in the case of a mother who mysteriously vanished more than a year ago.
Detectives received a tip that there may be evidence in the Pearblossom area connected to the disappearance of 29-year-old Monique Figueroa, said Lt. Steve Jauch of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
Remains could be part of the evidence, Jauch said.
Investigators with the sheriff's and coroner's departments searched the area last week, but nothing was found. They returned with dogs Friday to better pinpoint the location, Jauch said.
Figueroa, a stay-at-home mother, left her home in Littlerock on May 19, 2015 after telling friends she was going to visit some other friends in the Los Angeles area, her father Jeff Figueroa told NBC4.
Her father said he received a text message from his daughter the next day that read, "Had to leave, be home soon." He reported her missing after her phone kept going to voice mail, and sheriff's deputies found her Mercedes SUV in a rural area a few days later.
Figueroa has a young daughter.
