LAPD detectives search Joshua Tree for missing woman's evidence

Los Angeles Police Department homicide detectives from the Robbery-Homicide Division conducted a search in the Joshua Tree area of California on Friday. The search is seeking evidence related to the disappearance of 38-year-old Christina Lynn Downer.

Downer was last seen in the Koreatown neighborhood of Los Angeles in late 2025. Her brother, “Saturday Night Live” writer Jimmy Fowlie, previously stated on social media that police informed the family the case had transitioned from a missing person case to a homicide investigation. However, the LAPD has publicly disputed this, maintaining that Downer has not been located and the case remains classified as a missing person investigation.

Fowlie has also alleged that Downer’s phone and social media accounts were compromised prior to her disappearance, suggesting an individual may have used her devices to create a false narrative regarding her whereabouts.