The Vanishing of Barbara Aurora Burhans: Unsolved Since 1982

 

Today we’re looking at the mysterious disappearance of eight-year-old Barbara Aurora Burhans, who vanished with her mother and stepfather more than forty years ago.

It was March 15th, 1982, in Los Angeles, California. Barbara lived with her mother, Carmen Burhans Garcia, and her stepfather, Diego Garcia, in a home on Division Street in the Glassell Park neighborhood. Carmen’s mother lived upstairs.

That morning, Carmen’s mother came down to visit the family at breakfast. She later recalled that Carmen was crying, but she never asked why. Around noon, the family packed into their brown 1977 Toyota Corolla and drove away. It was the last time they were ever seen.

What makes this case even stranger is what they left behind. Their luggage, clothes still hanging in the closets, dog food in the fridge, and even the family dog—abandoned. Whatever happened, they didn’t plan on being gone for long.

Over a month later, on April 25th, the family’s car was discovered in the San Gabriel Mountains, off Route 2 near Big Pines. It had plunged 500 feet down a gorge and was buried under snow, the roof crushed in. But here’s the twist: there was no blood inside, and no clear signs of foul play. Police couldn’t determine whether the car had been pushed off deliberately, or simply knocked down the mountainside by a snowplow clearing the road.

Investigators looked into the family’s life. Diego Garcia, Barbara’s stepfather, was rumored to have possible ties to drugs or gambling. Some thought he and Carmen may have fled with Barbara all the way to Little Havana in Miami. Others suspected Carmen’s involvement in a strange, cult-like religious practice—reports mentioned candles, rituals, and even live chicken sacrifices. None of those theories were ever proven.

There were alleged sightings of Carmen in the months after, but none were confirmed. No one ever reported seeing Diego or Barbara again.

And so, more than four decades later, this case remains unsolved. Was the family the victim of foul play, or did they disappear voluntarily, only for something else to go tragically wrong?

Barbara would be fifty-one years old today, but her fate is still a mystery.

So here’s the question: what do you think happened to Barbara Aurora Burhans and her family back in 1982?

Every parent’s worst fear is losing sight of their child

👉 Protect what matters most. 👈