Where’s Chelsea Grimm? California Woman Vanishes While On Road Trip To Attend Wedding

“We are trying our best to hold onto positive outcome scenarios and put our faith in the authorities,” Stephen Grimm says about his missing daughter.

November 02, 2023
Chelsea Grimm, pictured here, was last seen on September 28th in Williams, Arizona. She is a white female with brown hair and blue eyes.

A California woman planned to attend a wedding in Connecticut. After she reportedly wasn’t able to fly with her pet bearded dragon, she decided to drive across the country with the reptile but disappeared somewhere in Arizona.

Photo by: Coconino County Sheriff's Office

Coconino County Sheriff's Office

By: Aaron Rasmussen

A California woman planned to attend a wedding in Connecticut. After she reportedly wasn’t able to fly with her pet bearded dragon, she decided to drive across the country with the reptile but disappeared somewhere in Arizona.

On Sept. 24, 2023, Chelsea Grimm left her San Diego home and started out for the East Coast. Just days into her trip, however, her parents said she told them she didn’t think she could go the entire way alone. She decided to skip the wedding and instead do some camping in Arizona.

On Sept. 27, days after she left California, Grimm reportedly arrived in Phoenix and met up with a friend. The following day, she was supposed to see the same friend for lunch but then canceled and instead showed up in Williams, Arizona.

Body cam footage recorded Sept. 28 and obtained by Arizona’s Family shows that an officer made contact with 32-year-old Grimm after authorities received a report about a suspicious person near a cemetery.

“How are you doing?” says the officer to an upset Grimm, according to the footage.

Grimm tells the officer she was going to get back on the road but was “doing a photo shoot of the lost soldiers and got a little emotional” and “was crying.”

She then explains to the officer she was “thinking of just camping for the night” in the area but hadn’t made up her mind. Grimm adds, “I didn’t plan to be here until sunset.”

The officer directs Grimm to a Loves Travel Stop and explains that if she parks near the gas station “nobody will bother” her.

A woodcutter reported seeing Grimm, who was camping in her 2019 Ford Focus SUV near Ashfork, Arizona, two days later, on Sept. 30. When asked, she indicated she was okay.

After Grimm’s concerned parents reported her missing on Oct. 4, her SUV was located in a rural area in the Ashfork area with two flat tires, both on the righthand side of the vehicle, according to Arizona’s Family.

The missing woman’s pet bearded dragon, Roxy, was also gone, according to reports, but many of Grimm’s personal belongings were still in her SUV.

The Coconino County Sheriff’s Office in Arizona continues to investigate the case.

“We are trying our best to hold onto positive outcome scenarios and put our faith in the authorities,” Stephen Grimm recently told Arizona’s Family about his missing daughter.

Anything with information about Chelsea Grimm and her possible whereabouts is urged to contact the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office at (928) 774-4523.

Next Up

5 Things That Still Bother Us About The Unsolved Maura Murray Case

On Feb. 9, 2004, UMass Amherst student Maura Murray left campus and crashed her car in Haverhill, New Hampshire. She has never been seen since.

A Brief History Of The Black Dahlia Case

Since 1947, the brutal death of 22-year-old Elizabeth Short has remained Hollywood’s most enduring unsolved mystery.

In February 2001, Steven Kraft, Jr. Took His Dogs Outside And Disappeared

Over two decades ago, a 12-year-old boy went missing from outside his home in Benton Harbor, Michigan. The two dogs he was playing with have since been found but he remains missing.

12-Year-Old Celina Mays Was 9 Months Pregnant When She Vanished In 1996

Celina Mays was 12-years-old and two weeks away from giving birth when she disappeared in the middle of the night from her New Jersey home. If you have any information about Celina Mays, please call or text the IN PURSUIT hotline directly: 833-378-7783 (3-PURSUE).

Missing South Carolina Woman Phoned 911, Claimed Ex-Boyfriend Was Chasing Her After Break-In

Daniel Gabriel Harmon is accused of the presumed murder of Jamilla “Millie” Shanae’ Smith, officials say.

Inside The 27-Year Investigation Of JonBenét Ramsey’s Murder

On Dec. 26, 1996, the pageant princess was found strangled to death in her family’s home in Boulder, Colorado.

Family Fights For Justice For Teacher Found With 20 Stab Wounds Whose Death Was Ruled A Suicide

On January 26, 2011, Ellen Greenberg, 27, was found in her kitchen with 20 stab wounds, including some on the back of her neck. For years, her family has fought for her case to be reexamined.

Man Who Was Wrongfully Convicted Of Murder As A Teen Freed After Nearly Two Decades

In December 2023, Marvin Haynes was released from prison after his murder conviction was thrown out.

Husband Of Missing Massachusetts Woman Charged With Her Murder

Ana Walshe, a 39-year-old mother of three, went missing on New Year’s Day. Police later found evidence showing her husband lied and stalled, as well as a bloody knife in the family's basement.