911 call reveals what Amanda Nenigar told police before going missing

BLYTHE, Calif. (KPHO/Gray News) — A 911 call that a 26-year-old woman made the day before she was reported missing was released Thursday night.

Amanda Nenigar, 26, was reported missing on Feb. 28 after her vehicle got stuck in a ditch. She was last seen near the Arizona border in Blythe, California.

Listening to parts of the 911 call, she gave dispatchers nearly the exact coordinates where she was stuck off the highway.

But, that 911 call went to California dispatchers, not Arizona, even though her car ended up being found in Arizona.

That initial call mixup has become a key part of this story.

“What are you surrounded with? Do you see just fields? Is that all you see?” the dispatcher asked in the call.

“I’m like kind of in a valley,” Nenigar said at one point. “Yeah, there’s just a lot of mountains.”

Nenigar lives in Blythe, California, and during parts of the call with the California Highway Patrol, you hear her giving location coordinates to the dispatcher and describing the area.

“But I climbed to like a high mountain and I’m wearing pink,” Nenigar said on the call.

“OK, so you’re on Highway 78, you think? And what would be the nearest cross streets?” the dispatcher asked.

“Um, I’m not sure. I see a field,” she replied.

“I’m trying to get a location on you but I’m not getting one,” the dispatcher said.

Nenigar was reported missing the next day, on Feb. 28, after family couldn’t get ahold of her and nobody had seen her.

On March 7, the La Paz County Sheriff’s Office told us they officially found her car after searchers discovered it in a remote desert area near Cibola, Arizona.

The rear wheels were on top of a boulder when it was found.

“She’s never been in that part of the desert, ever. It’s not a familiar area for her to go,” said Marissa Nenigar, Amanda Nenigar’s sister.

Marissa Nenigar said she is frustrated after what she’s learned.

Once the La Paz County Sheriff’s Office got involved, they were eventually made aware of Amanda Nenigar’s 911 call the day before she was reported missing.

They were told the California officer was confused about where Amanda Nenigar was by the descriptions she gave and ended up looking for her along Highway 95, a good 30 to 40 miles away.

But when Arizona deputies heard the 911 call, they followed the coordinates Amanda Nenigar gave, and ended up just a mile and a half from where her car was found.

“She gave them her coordinates, California, and I don’t know why they didn’t transfer her to dispatch in Arizona,” said Marissa Nenigar. “She gave them her exact location and someone could have went and got her. They could have found her.”

Marissa Nenigar said there’s been no trace of her sister ever since, and none of her belongings were in the car.

“Her phone goes straight to voicemail. Different people have tried calling her because maybe, I don’t know, she wanted to disappear and she blocked everyone, but no, that’s not the case. Her phone is going directly to voicemail,” Marissa said.

The longer time goes on, the more dire Amanda Nenigar’s family knows the search and situation becomes.

“It’s been so many days like, what if she’s somewhere out there dead? Or what if she’s being human trafficked? What if somebody kidnapped her? I have no idea. Nobody knows,” Marissa Nenigar said. “We just want to know that she’s OK. We want her to come home.”

The La Paz County Sheriff’s Office said they’ve been searching the area near the coordinates Amanda Nenigar gave on that 911 call.

Most recently they’ve searched by drones, in addition to helicopters, off-road vehicles, boots on the ground and cadaver dogs.

If you have any information on Amanda Nenigar’s whereabouts, please call the La Paz County Sheriff’s Office at (928) 669-6141.

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