Yolanda Lopez

Yolanda’s story

Yolanda Lopez, 36, had been staying at a friend’s house in San Clemente since February 2009. At about 7:40 a.m. on Sept. 6, 2009, she left the house. She hasn’t been seen or heard from since. [1]

Later that month her friend received a message from someone she didn’t know, saying Yolanda had returned to Mexico to live with her two adult sons. Her friend has never been able to confirm it. [1]

Who Yolanda was

Yolanda was born on June 16, 1973. She was small, 4’11” and about 110 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes, and she wore glasses. When she left that morning she had on a turquoise jacket and blue jeans and carried a large black purse. She had two adult sons, reportedly living in Mexico. [1][2]

What happened

All that’s publicly known is that Yolanda left her friend’s San Clemente home at about 7:40 a.m. on a Sunday in early September, and that a message about her arrived later that month from an unknown acquaintance. The public record doesn’t say how the message arrived, who sent it, or whether investigators traced it. [1]

What investigators have said

The Sheriff’s Department lists Yolanda as a missing person and asks anyone with information to call its Homicide / Missing Persons detail. [3] Her case was entered in the national NamUs database in 2015. The public record doesn’t show whether dental records or family DNA are on file. [1][2]

Something to be careful of

A different woman, also named Yolanda Lopez, was reported found in Mexico in 2011 in a San Diego news story. That story is not about this case.

Open questions

• Who sent the message saying Yolanda had gone to Mexico, and how did they know?
• Did she reach her sons? Have they been contacted?
• Where was she going at 7:40 on a Sunday morning?

What you can do

• If you know Yolanda Lopez, or her sons, and know where she is, please tell the Sheriff’s Department, even just to confirm she is safe.
• If you sent or received the September 2009 message about her return to Mexico, investigators would like to hear from you.
• Research: Spanish-language media in Orange County and San Diego (Excélsior, La Opinión, Univision, Telemundo) may have run appeals in late 2009. Mexico’s national missing-persons registry is also worth checking.