On Sat., Aug. 24 at approximately 6:13 PM the CHP Monterey Area office received a call of a vehicle that went off the cliff 1 mile south of Esalen near mile post marker 32 in Big Sur.  The vehicle was described as a red car down the cliff about 300 feet near the ocean.  A Monterey County Sheriff’s Dept. Search & Rescue drone confirmed the vehicle was unoccupied.  CHP Monterey Area officers, CHP Helicopter-70, Coast Guard, Monterey County Sheriff’s Department Search & Rescue, Big Sur Fire Brigade and Calif. State Parks worked together to search for the occupant.  

On Sun., Aug. 25 at approximately 3:00 PM an unoccupied 2015 Honda Civic was recovered from the bottom of the cliff.  The family of Kristen Kendall filed a missing person report with the Capitola Police Dep.  The burgundy 2015 Honda Civic is registered to the missing person from Capitola. 

On Wed., Aug. 28 at approx. 1300 hrs. divers with the Monterey County Sheriff’s Dept. Search & Rescue recovered a body in the ocean near the scene where the vehicle was recovered.  It is unknown at this time if the body that was recovered from the ocean is that of Kristen Kendall.  The Monterey County Coroner’s office will be releasing the name of the body found once an autopsy has been completed, probably by Thurs. Aug. 29. CHP will investigate the traffic collision.