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Lauren Cho: California woman's missing case similar to Gabby Petito's disappearance

Lauren Cho was reportedly last seen in the area around Hoopa Road and Ben Mar Trail in between Morongo Valley and Yucca Valley

Long Island native Gabby Petito's 'high-profile' case which gained an unbelievable amount of traction in the media and on the Internet has shed light on a similar missing woman's case. Search is still going on for Lauren Cho, 30, who went missing this summer. Cho was last seen in California's Yucca Valley on June 28 after walking away from her friend Cody Orell, who is also the last person to have seen her. Cho's case is being compared to the Gabby Petito case over several similarities. 

Cho was reportedly last seen in the area around Hoopa Road and Ben Mar Trail in between Morongo Valley and Yucca Valley. According to the Morongo Basin Sheriff's public appeal to find Cho on June 30, at the time of her disappearance, Cho was wearing a yellow tee-shirt and jean shorts in the area of Hoopa x Benmar, Morongo Valley, and was on foot. Since then, Cho's family and friends have issued pleas for help in finding her, with police looking into whether she might have hitch-hiked or caught a ride with someone in the area.

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Gabby Pettio, who went on a cross-country trip in a van with her boyfriend, Brian Laundrie was reported missing by her family on September 11. Petito last spoke to her family on August 25. Petito's boyfriend, Laundrie returned home in her van without her on September 1, lawyered up and refused to speak to the authorities about her whereabouts. He was named a 'person of interest' in the case as he went missing from his home in Florida on September 14. As authorities launched a manhunt for Brian, Gabby's body was found in Grand Teton national park on Sunday, September 19. 

Cho's friend, Orell, who was also the last person to see her, claimed that she wanted to "taste freedom", as she joined him on his tour bus as he made his way out west. Cho was staying at a friend's place with Orell and was in the process of renovating an old school bus into a food truck when she went missing. She was last seen at approximately 3 pm on June 28. According to sheriff's reports, Orell reported to the authorities that Cho went missing at 5:13 pm that day. "There was a 10-minute window there and she evaporated ... I searched all in the hills and no tracks, anywhere, " he said. No traces of Cho have been found in or around the valley she was last seen in so far. Search and rescue teams including drones, helicopters, dogs, and people on foot have been actively searching the surrounding areas for any sign of Cho.
 
Netizens are drawing comparisons between the two cases. One person tweeted, "I’m hoping this #GABBYPETITO groundswell can be maintained for other victims. There’s many more out there. Lauren Cho is missing. Please when you see missing persons retweet and like it. You never know who’s eyes it may get in front of…" Another wrote, "Lauren cho's disappearance is somewhat similar to #gabbypetito 's. why did they take cody orell's word like that?? he is clearly the prime suspect." One tweet read, "I’m glad #gabbypetito got such great media coverage but can we please keep this same energy for missing #bipoc? Let’s find #LaurenCho Last seen at 3 p.m. Monday, June 28, in Morongo Valley. Last person to see her was her ex-boyfriend." Another person wrote, "The difference in coverage between Gabby Petito’s disappearance and Lauren Cho’s speaks volumes. THIS WOMAN IS FUCKING MISSING"