By Linda Taaffe
Los Altos Hills
A 22-year-old woman who left on an overnight mountain bike ride from Los Altos Hills July 13 remained missing Monday.
Christina “Minna” Sandmeyer left a note, saying she was going on a bike ride toward the coast or to Russian Ridge Park off of Page Mill Road. She was supposed to return Saturday, said Sgt. Mark Eastus of the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Department.
Sandmeyer was staying with a friend at a Los Altos Hills farm off of Moody Road while on summer break from Stanford University, where she is studying engineering.
Her roommate said she last saw Sandmeyer at the farm the day she left on the bike ride.
Police said Sandmeyer had been “somewhat despondent” and had spoken of suicide, according to friends.
Eastus said it was possible that Sandmeyer decided to go on a longer bike ride. Friends had described Sandmeyer as an avid cyclist who would often go on long bike trips.
The only difference between this ride and others, was that she had not checked in with family or friends, Eastus said.
Sandmeyer’s roommate said it was unusual for Sandmeyer not to check in.
Her friend Jessica Robinson said Sandmeyer was looking forward to the start of the school year and that she did not believe that suicide was a possibility in Sandmeyer’s disappearance.
Eastus said police had stopped searching for Sandmeyer last week after the Sheriff’s office, the California Highway Patrol and the U.S. Coast Guard conducted a helicopter and foot search of trails along Russian Ridge and the coast July 17 and found nothing. Detectives were still investigating the case, he said.
Family and friends organized their own search parties and were continuing to look for Sandmeyer over the weekend.
Sandmeyer was riding a white Cannondale touring bike with blue striped tires. She was wearing a white bike helmet and possibly black spandex bike shorts. Sandmeyer is 5-feet, 9-inches tall and weighs 150 pounds. She has hazel eyes and loose, brown dreadlocks.
Anyone with information should call Sgt. Mark Eastus at (408) 299-2102.
