Search continues for missing Hollywood Hills woman, 28, after car found in Lancaster

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A car belonging to a 28-year-old missing Hollywood Hills woman has been located in Lancaster, authorities said Tuesday.

Laura Lynne Stacy, who recently moved to Los Angeles from Colorado, has been missing since Sunday. She was last seen at her apartment in the 3600 block of Barham Boulevard, according to investigators.

Stacy was driving a 2005 black Acura TL with Colorado license plates at the time of her disappearance. The sedan was found in the remote desert area of 97th Street East and Avenue E.

The vehicle, covered with frost, was towed from the location early Wednesday morning as the search for Stacy continued.

Her parents joined Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department search-and-rescue personnel in the area as the investigation continued from the air and on the ground.

"I think she ran out of gas and then she probably started getting out of her car to walk and then she didn't know where to go," Marcie Stacy said.

"This is a very busy road," said Steve Stacy, "so we're just hoping somebody saw her, picked her up and helped her somewhere. Hopefully she sees some of these interviews and gives us a call."

Laura Stacy had contacted her sister and a few other people Sunday afternoon, according to police. About 5 a.m. Monday, Stacy's phone was discovered in a puddle at Golden Valley Park in Santa Clarita.

Her parents, who flew to the Southland from their home in Denver, said Stacy usually keeps in touch with them, especially since she moved several months ago. They added that their daughter was in good spirits during their last conversation and has a propensity to explore.

She "loves California and the beaches and likes to check out new places," her mother said.

Sheriff's Detective Tim O'Quinn emphasized the case was a missing-person investigation Wednesday.

"I don't have a critical or suspicious nature to it," he said. "It certainly could develop that way, but we don't have that just at this time yet. We're still conducting essentially a grid search of a location where a car was found."

Stacy is described as 5 feet, 8 inches tall, weighing about 130 pounds, with blonde hair and blue eyes.

Anyone with more information is urged to contact the Los Angeles Police Department's missing person's unit at (213) 996-1800. Those wishing to remain anonymous may call Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477.