A California college student vanished after she drove across the state to Los Angeles, wrecked her car and eventually lost her phone at a ticket counter inside LAX.
Noelle Lynch’s parents last saw their daughter, a 23-year-old junior at Sacramento State University, when she left their Sacramento area home and drove south on April 1.
Lynch’s worried parents believe their daughter is vulnerable and left the house in a “difficult state of mind,” according to SFGate.
They were unaware of where their daughter was until they learned she got in a crash at a Los Angeles intersection the next morning.
“We didn’t know where she was going,” Mark Lynch told the outlet, “and the next thing we knew, she was in an accident in Los Angeles at 3 a.m. to 4 a.m. on Tuesday, April 2.”
Lynch’s car was totaled in the accident that involved at least two vehicles, but no one was reportedly injured.
Upon hearing about the crash, Lynch’s mom, Kellie, booked a hotel room for her daughter near LAX with plans to go down to her daughter’s side the next morning
“We had no idea why she was in Los Angeles, and I drove down there early the next day to try to help her,” Kellie told ABC 10.
The college student never showed up at the hotel, and her parents didn’t hear from her until Lynch called them from a “strange person’s phone” around noon on April 3.
Lynch was “mostly not making sense,” in the brief phone conversation, Mark Lynch told the outlet.
The Los Angeles Police Department announced Lynch’s phone was found at a Southwest ticket counter at LAX, but her parents don’t believe she got on a plane.
Noelle Lynch was last seen leaving an apartment in Inglewood last Wednesday around 5 p.m., LAPD said in a press release.
“Noelle requires medical attention,” the LAPD said in an updated missing person flier.
The parents don’t know why she was at the apartment as she wasn’t visiting friends.
Kellie Lynch eventually went to the building, where she found her daughter’s belongings including a backpack and detectives obtained surveillance video of Lynch leaving with none of her bags, according to SFGate.
Lynch’s father says it is not like his daughter to not communicate with her parents.
“She always calls,” he said. “This is very out of character. She has had a tough time but she has always called.”
The distraught parents said their daughter had a hard time with isolation during the pandemic lockdowns and she struggled during her time at UC San Diego.
“It was very difficult for her to get back on track, and we had several false starts,” said Mark Lynch, Notolld the ABC 10.
Noelle Lynch eventually enrolled in classes at Sacramento State this spring to be closer to home.
“We were really happy for her, because she had re-engaged and seemed like she was making progress,” Mark Lynch added.
The college student had reportedly been upset, anxious and disoriented, creating concern for her parents.
“We want to know that she’s OK and get her back and get her help,” said Mark.
The LAPD doesn’t suspect foul play as a factor in Lynch’s disappearance.
But Mark Lynch does suspect foul play as he doesn’t believe his daughter is “sitting in a coffee shop in Marina del Rey,” according to SFGate.
Lynch was described as a 5′ 8″ female, last seen wearing a dark t-shirt, green sweatpants with a military logo, and white sneakers.
No other sightings of Lynch have been reported.
