She Mysteriously Vanished While On A Solo Camping Trip In The Sierra National Forest, And Her Car Was Later Found Stuck In A Ravine About Five Miles Away

Born on July 26, 1966, Sandra Johnsen Hughes enjoyed the outdoors. In college, she trained to become a park ranger and was extremely experienced when it came to outdoor survival.
By the time she was 54-years-old in 2020, Sandra had been married twice. She was also living and working in Maui, Hawaii.
However, after she decided to travel to California for a solo camping trip in June of that year, she mysteriously disappeared.
It all began on June 26, when Sandra last spoke to her family. She had left Maui to visit Madera County, California, and intended to go camping alone in the Sierra National Forest near Johnson Meadows.
Yet, around one week later, hikers discovered Sandra’s sleeping bag and camping gear strewn about near Johnson Meadow on July 2, 2020.
Then, two days afterward, hikers reportedly spotted Sandra in the area on July 4, 2020. She was reportedly barefoot and had a bruise on her face. But, when the hikers offered medical assistance, she supposedly turned them down.
It wasn’t until July 5, 2020, that Sandra’s abandoned campsite was discovered by authorities between Beasore Road and Minarets Road. Police found identifying documents and contacted her loved ones. They also claimed the campsite looked disheveled, which sounded alarm bells for Sandra’s family.
According to Sandra’s niece, Ashley Macus, this is extremely uncharacteristic for Sandra – who would not leave her campsite messy.
“She’s trained in outdoor survival; she’s trained for it. She would never leave her campsite a mess. Even a piece of litter on the ground would bother her. So, there’s so much that happened that’s just, as a family, we can’t really explain,” Ashley said.

Stephen – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only
That same day, July 5, Sandra’s vehicle – a silver Saab 9-5 – was discovered near the Chiquito Pass trailhead off a dirt road. The car was about five miles away from Sandra’s campsite and had seemingly crashed into a tree. Then, the vehicle rolled into a ravine and became stuck.
Just like at the campsite, the personal belongings found in Sandra’s car were strewn about, with authorities describing them as “disheveled and emptied carelessly.”
Over one month after Sandra disappeared, on August 9, 2020, two hunters claimed to have spotted Sandra leaning against a tree on Forest Road 5S01. They were around five miles away from where her abandoned campsite had been discovered.
According to the hunters, they did not immediately realize the woman they’d seen had been Sandra. Rather, after leaving the forest and seeing a missing person’s flyer, they concluded the woman they’d spotted had been Sandra.
Despite this supposed sighting, investigators have found no further evidence of Sandra’s whereabouts. The exact circumstances surrounding her disappearance also remain unknown, and her case is unsolved.
At the time she vanished, Sandra was five foot three, weighed 150 pounds, and had brown hair and brown eyes.
If you have any information regarding her case, you are urged to contact the Madera County Sheriff’s Office at (559) 675-7770.
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