SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – A Fresno woman missing since December has been found dead in the Sierra Nevada.
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Samantha Tomlinson's body was recovered about a half-mile from her parked car. She was identified using dental records, according to the Fresno County Sheriff's Office.
Tomlinson, 37, was last seen on Dec. 3, 2021.
She was reported missing after she didn't return from a trip to a nearby Costco, Dateline and SFGATE said. Searches in the Sierra National Forest and Sequoia National Park – both of which Tomlinson was known to frequent as "an avid hiker" – turned up no sign of her or her 2002 Honda Civic.
Authorities then received a report of an apparently abandoned car matching the vehicle's description last Monday. It turned out to be Tomlinson's Honda Civic, parked east of Shaver Lake. "It is believed the car was previously covered in snow, which is why it wasn't found sooner," officials described in a news release posted to Facebook.
Teams "worked around the clock combing the forest for any signs of Tomlinson." Her remains were found two days later.
Foul play is not suspected in Tomlinson's death, deputies said.
The cause of death and circumstances surrounding her passing were not released.
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