Officials confirm body of woman found in Kern River is missing Ventura woman

Ventura

The Kern County Sheriff’s Office confirmed Friday that the body of a woman found in early December in the Kern River is that of a Ventura woman who went missing in April.

Lisa Harvey, 51, was last seen April 29 after she left Ventura for Lake Isabella in Kern County.

Harvey’s remains were found in a car pulled from the Kern River in early December and later identified using dental comparison.

Kern County authorities said Harvey died of multiple injuries and that after an autopsy, her death was ruled an accident.

“Lisa, she’s the fun aunt,” said Harvey’s cousin, Jennifer Cotterell, who lives in Ridgecrest. “She’s always laughing and loves the beach and the water. She taught us all the fun things.”

Harvey was a paraeducator for many years, and Cotterell said she loved kids and had “such a big heart.” Harvey leaves behind an adult daughter.

When Harvey left Ventura last April, she was driving a white Toyota Solara, which matched the vehicle found in Kern County. The vehicle was found off Highway 178 about a third of the way up to Lake Isabella from the mouth of the Kern River Canyon. The highway connects Bakersfield to Lake Isabella and the Kernville area.

Harvey disappeared while she was on her way to visit a cousin last spring. Family members said that when she didn’t arrive, the cousin contacted police.

A lengthy and often-desperate multiple-county search by air and ground followed Harvey’s disappearance.

Cotterell and her family waited seven months for closure, but she said it was just like Harvey to keep them waiting.

“Lisa was late to everything,” Cotterell said with a laugh. “We would meet for breakfast, and I would tell her to be there 30 minutes before everyone else. I got married in Ventura and in the wedding video, you can see Lisa walk in and sit down during the ceremony.

“It’s just like her to show up seven months late,” Cotterell said. “People joke about being late to your own funeral; that’s Lisa.”

Harvey was last heard from just after midnight the night she went missing after a voicemail was left during a call made from Harvey’s cellphone. But the message contained no speech, only muffled sounds in what appears to have been an accidental call, her niece told The Star last spring.

The submerged vehicle’s presence was detected in early December after hikers in the area found a black trash bag filled with personal property, authorities said.

When the hikers looked through the bag, they found an item with Harvey’s name. They then contacted sheriff’s personnel after entering the name in Google and learning Harvey had been missing.

The bag had apparently been dislodged as the vehicle left the road, authorities said. Damage to the vehicle indicated it likely struck branches of a tree while in midair.

Cotterell said that if the passersby had not found the family’s Facebook page dedicated to finding Harvey, they wouldn’t have known it was her for several weeks.

Cotterell was at the river the day authorities pulled the car out and said everyone there treated the remains with “such respect.”

“It really was her,” Cotterell said. “You know, we said for months, ‘I knew that’s what happened.’ I chartered a plane and flew up and down that river, but, gosh, you know it’s different when you officially know. I thought that this would be the closure. ... That felt like the day we lost her, losing her for real.”

A memorial service for Harvey has been planned, and those interested in attending may reach out to the family for details at https://www.facebook.com/InLovingMemoryofLisaGailHarvey. If people want to offer support, Cotterell added, they can make donations in Harvey’s name to the Kern Valley Search and Rescue group, a volunteer unit under the Kern County Sheriff’s office or to the nonprofit Cal Advocates for the Missing.

“She was just the life of the party,” Cotterell said, “It’s going to be hard to have a party without her.”