Los Angeles police homicide detectives searched the Joshua Tree area of California on Friday for evidence related to the disappearance of Christina Lynn Downer, the sister of a “Saturday Night Live” writer, months after her family said they had been told she was killed.
An LAPD spokesperson confirmed to News Outlet that detectives from the Robbery-Homicide Division began searching the area Friday morning. Authorities did not identify the precise location or say what evidence they were seeking.
Downer, 38, vanished from Los Angeles’ Koreatown neighborhood in late November 2025. Her disappearance was reported to police the following month.
Her brother, “Saturday Night Live” writer Jimmy Fowlie, said in an Instagram post published in late April that police had informed the family his sister was dead.
Christina Lynn Downer, the missing sister of “Saturday Night Live” writer Jimmy Fowlie, was last seen in Los Angeles’ Koreatown neighborhood in November 2025. (LAPD)
“The LAPD has informed our family that Christina is no longer alive, and the case has officially transitioned from a missing person to a homicide investigation,” Fowlie wrote. “Our prayers for her to be found safely have transformed into prayers for the truth to be revealed and for those responsible to be held accountable.”
The LAPD later publicly disputed Fowlie’s account, saying Downer had not been found and that the case was still classified as a missing-person investigation, FOX 11 Los Angeles reported.
Joshua trees and towering rock formations stand near Twentynine Palms, California, in the Joshua Tree area where authorities are investigating the reported discovery of a human skull. (Shutterstock)
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“Although the circumstances of her disappearance are suspicious, Ms. Downer has not been located,” the department said at the time. Police added that detectives would continue working the case until it was resolved.
Los Angeles police homicide detectives searched the Joshua Tree area of California on Friday, Oct. 9, 2026, for evidence connected to the disappearance of Christina Lynn Downer, the sister of “Saturday Night Live” writer Jimmy Fowlie. (Josh Brasted/Getty Images)
Fowlie has also expressed concern about activity involving his sister’s cellphone and social media accounts. He alleged that someone used them to obscure her disappearance and make it appear she had chosen to leave voluntarily.
“The individual(s) in possession of her phone used it to hide the fact she was gone, to ask for money, and to create a false narrative that she was going ‘off the grid,’” he wrote.
The LAPD has not publicly confirmed those allegations.
During Friday’s operation, an LAPD media relations officer told News Outlet that investigators could not say whether they were searching for human remains, a suspect or other evidence. Officials also could not confirm whether search dogs were assisting detectives.
It was not immediately clear what prompted investigators to search the Joshua Tree area or whether the department has revised the official status of Downer’s case since its earlier statement.
News Outlet has contacted Fowlie for comment.
