The death of a top realtor in the California desert has sparked a chilling mystery and left her family fighting among each other.
Lorraine Bird, 86, vanished from her home in Twentynine Palms in May last year before being found naked under boulders in the Mojave Desert a week later.
Cops said at the time her death was under investigation but a year later no arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing, with authorities not saying whether her death is being investigated as suspicious or a homicide.
Bird’s son, Steve Robles told the Los Angeles Times he worries there were signs his mom was in danger and wishes he could have convinced her to move close to him in Long Beach.
In May 2025, Lorraine Bird went missing. Her body was later found in the Mojave Desert. Obtained by the CA Post “I have all these unanswered questions,” he said. “But I don’t get to understand at this point.”
In 2021, Bird was living in Redondo Beach but her daughter Doreen Bird had convinced her to buy a home in Twentynine Palms. So, she moved out to the desert to be close to her.
Months before she was found dead, Bird had called an old real estate attorney, Sherry Lear, who she hadn’t spoken to in years, asking for help.
Speaking to the the outlet, Lear said Bird told her her daughter was moving out of the area and wanted to move in with her son.
Bird said she didn’t want to stay out in the desert alone and had decided to sell the home and move to a friend’s place in Eastern Sierra Nevada.
Lear said the daughter and grandson had said they both wanted money when the home sold, the grandson, Blake Thomas, wanted to be paid back the $30,000 downpayment he put on the home and daughter wanted the equity on the house for the improvements she claimed to have made on it.
In addition, the grandson wanted to be made a mortgage holder and for her to sign a deed of trust making it official. Lear said she offered to act as a mediator to help out.
A view of Graffiti Rocks alongside the Old Woman Springs Rd. in Landers, California. Anadolu via Getty Images The next month, Lear said she got another call from Bird who said her daughter had showed up at her house with a stack of papers demanding she sign a deed of trust.
According to Lear, Bird was shaken, “Lorraine was very upset.” “She said this wasn’t the first time that Doreen had yelled at her. And that she was afraid of her.”
Lear issued a cease-and-desist letter to the daughter and grandson warning that if it happened again, authorities would be contacted.
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The grandson said he was aware there had been some kind of confrontation between the two but didn’t know the details.
Weeks went by, and Bird ended up signing a promissory note authorizing the money the grandson had asked for and that the payment would happen once the home was sold.
In addition, the note allegedly stated the debt would be forgiven if the grandson “received 80% of the property title” after her death.
Bird then enlisted the help of a local realtor, Sandra Claus, to sell the home and the two hit it off.
Claus said Bird would talk to her about the trouble she was having with the grandson and daughter and that she “was just trying to get away.” She then got an offer to buy the home.
The last time Claus spoke to her friend was on May 10, the day she had agreed to the terms of the sale of the home.
That morning, she had sent over the contract for Bird to sign, but said she never heard back. Claus said she made numerous attempts to reach her, but got no response.
Claus then got a call from the grandson claiming Bird had gone to visit a relative in Apple Valley, located in the Mojave desert.
He said he called her after his mom said that Bird had taken off to see family after they had had another fight. Robles said the last time he spoke to his mom was before mothers day on May 9.
On May 13, Doreen reported her mom missing. A sheriff bulletin about Bird said she was last heard from after leaving her home on May 10. It also said she was dealing with the early-stage of dementia and had left her medication.
On May 19, Robles and his cousin drove to the sheriff’s office station looking for answers where Claus met up with them after seeing a video by a person who makes travel videos who had discovered a decomposed body near a pile of boulders in Johnson Valley, located in the Mojave Desert.
The son and cousin were later called to the coroner’s office and the body was identified as that of his missing mom.
“She was just thrown out there,” Robles said. “Disposed of.” Bird’s car was later located 30 miles from where his mom’s body was found.
An autopsy report obtained by the Times lists cause of death as undetermined and time as unknown. It also showed that Bird was dealing with a severe heart disease that causes 90 percent coronary artery narrowing- the most common cause of death in the US, per the report.
Her death has torn the family apart, with some alleging the grandson and his mom were somehow involved in her death, an accusation the grandson said both he and his mom have strongly denied.
The brother and sister are now on different sides of the rift caused by their mom’s mysterious death. Doreen Bird did not respond for comment.
The California Post reached out to the sheriff’s office for further comment on the state of the investigation.
