Calif. Woman Goes Missing on Road Trip, Car Found with 2 Flat Tires

Authorities in Arizona are looking for a California woman who disappeared more than two weeks ago while traveling solo across the country.

Chelsea Grimm was reported missing to the Phoenix Police Department on Oct. 4, according to a press release from the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office. She was last seen on Sept. 28 in Arizona and originally planned to travel cross-country from San Diego to Connecticut for a wedding, the sheriff’s office said.

The day after she was reported missing, hunters informed CCSO deputies that they had located a suspicious vehicle on Kaibab National Forest Road 6 near Ashfork.

The car — described by the CCSO as a white Ford Escape — was found with two flat tires, according to ABC affiliate KGTV and NBC affiliate KPNX.

“It’s excruciating. You wouldn’t wish it on anyone,” said Stephen Grimm, the missing woman’s father, per KPNX. His wife Janet added, “It’s been just a horrible, horrible, horrible experience.”

The CCSO did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

Investigators believe the woman may have been with the vehicle on Sept. 30, police said. Grimm is also believed to be accompanied by a bearded dragon.

The animal was not found in the vehicle, nor was Grimm’s wallet, phone or sleeping bag, per the reports. Her camera, however, was left behind.

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Body camera footage captured by a Williams police officer showed him interacting with the 32-year-old at a local cemetery two days before she was last seen, according to Arizona’s KTVK/KPHO-TV.

“I just was doing a photo shoot of the lost soldiers and got a little emotional, so I was crying before I got back on the road,” Grimm told the officer, per the footage. She later revealed that she was planning on “camping for the night,” the outlet reported.

Grimm called her parents on Sept. 27 and informed them that she wouldn’t make it to New England in time for the wedding, according to KPNX. 

Instead, her mother said Grimm planned to “take a couple of days and camp,” and warned them not to expect to hear from her “for a couple of days.”

Though Grimm does have experience with camping, her father said she hasn’t done much of it since she was a teenager. “It was a little unusual,” he said about his daughter’s plan.

The last person known to have contact with Grimm was a woodcutter, who spotted Grimm camping in her car near Ashfork on Sept. 30, KTVK/KPHO-TV reported. The individual made contact with Grimm, who allegedly told them she was okay.

Authorities do not believe foul play is involved in Grimm’s disappearance, per the reports.