MISSING WOMAN FOUND ALIVE IN MEXICO MORE THAN A YEAR AFTER ABANDONING HER CAR AND TRAILER

SAN DIEGO, Calif. — A missing Ukrainian woman who disappeared during a cross-country road trip has been found alive in Mexico more than a year after her car and camper trailer were discovered abandoned in rural Southern California.

Ganna Kovrizhynkh, 39, was reported missing in July 2025 after friends and family lost contact with her. Investigators with the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office recently established contact with her and confirmed that she is alive and believed to be staying in Sinaloa, Mexico.

HER CAR AND TRAILER WERE FOUND ABANDONED

Kovrizhynkh, who also goes by Angel Volnaya, was traveling from Florida toward California when she disappeared.

Friends and relatives said they last heard from her on July 5, 2025, while she was traveling through San Diego County.

Days later, her Jeep Grand Cherokee and camper trailer were found apparently abandoned on private property near Potrero, a rural community in the county.

The discovery immediately raised concerns because there was no clear indication of where Kovrizhynkh had gone.

A MESSAGE TO HER MOTHER ADDED TO THE MYSTERY

Before disappearing, Kovrizhynkh reportedly sent her mother a photograph of a letter along with GPS coordinates in Potrero.

According to a National Missing and Unidentified Persons System file, the letter contained instructions concerning her personal belongings and indicated that she wanted her assets given to her mother.

Her vehicle and trailer were subsequently located near the coordinates.

At the time, investigators did not know whether she had traveled elsewhere voluntarily or whether something had happened to her.

POLICE EVENTUALLY BELIEVED SHE HAD CROSSED INTO MEXICO

The San Diego County Sheriff’s Office conducted an extensive investigation and pursued multiple leads.

Investigators eventually believed that Kovrizhynkh had likely crossed the U.S.-Mexico border voluntarily.

On Aug. 7, 2026, authorities were finally able to establish contact with her.

After verifying her identity, investigators determined that she was currently staying in Sinaloa, Mexico. The sheriff’s office also notified the Ukrainian Embassy about her whereabouts.

MORE THAN A YEAR WITHOUT ANSWERS

Kovrizhynkh was officially reported missing on July 12, 2025, after her vehicle and trailer were discovered.

For more than a year, her family and investigators did not know where she was.

The case attracted attention because of the unusual circumstances surrounding her disappearance: her vehicle and belongings were left behind, while the message to her mother appeared to contain instructions about what should happen to her possessions.

Now authorities know that Kovrizhynkh survived and is living in Mexico.

However, many details surrounding her disappearance remain unclear.

WHY DID SHE LEAVE?

Investigators believe Kovrizhynkh crossed into Mexico voluntarily, but the circumstances surrounding that decision have not been fully explained publicly.

It is also unclear why she left her Jeep and camper trailer behind in Potrero or what happened between the time she was last heard from in July 2025 and when authorities located her more than a year later.

The sheriff’s office has not indicated that she was found to be in immediate danger.

A MISSING-PERSON MYSTERY TAKES AN UNEXPECTED TURN

For more than a year, Kovrizhynkh’s family faced the possibility that they might never learn what happened to her.

Now they know something they had been desperately hoping to hear:

Ganna is alive.

But one major question remains unanswered:

Why did she leave her vehicle, disappear from contact and ultimately make her way to Mexico?

For now, authorities have confirmed her whereabouts but have provided few details about what led to her disappearance.

A missing-person investigation that began with an abandoned Jeep and camper has ended with a remarkable discovery — but the mystery surrounding Ganna Kovrizhynkh’s decision to leave everything behind is far from completely solved.