Carmen Maria Burhans Garcia was 41 when she vanished from Los Angeles on March 15, 1982. She was 5 feet 6 inches and about 210 pounds, with black hair and black eyes. Carmen was last seen at home in Glassell Park with her husband, Diego Garcia, and their 8-year-old daughter, Barbara Burhans; they lived with Carmen’s mother in an upstairs unit.

That morning Carmen’s mother saw her crying at breakfast. Around noon the family left together in a 1977 brown Toyota Corolla, leaving behind clothing, luggage and their dog. The car was found more than a month later, on April 25, 1982, buried under five feet of snow at the bottom of a steep gorge in the San Gabriel Mountains near Big Pines; the roof was crushed but no blood or other evidence of foul play was reported. The nearby road had been closed since March 16.

Investigators have considered that the car might have been pushed into the gorge or accidentally knocked off the road by a snowplow. Over the years unconfirmed theories and reported sightings have circulated, but none have been verified and the family’s fate remains unknown. If anyone knew Carmen, Diego, or Barbara or has information about their disappearance, please contact the Los Angeles Police Department.