World enews: Lauren Cho: Human remains identified as missing New Jersey woman whose case was highlighted by Gabby Petito story

Officials have identified the remains recently found in Southern California as those of Lauren Cho, a New Jersey woman who went missing in June.

“The San Bernardino County Coroner’s Division has positively identified the human remains to be Lauren Cho, 30-year-old resident of New Jersey,” the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement. “The cause and manner of death is pending toxicology results. No further information will be released on this case until such time toxicology results are available and new information is discovered as a result.”

Police say they found the remains on 9 October in the desert of Yucca Valley, where Ms Cho’s friends say she wandered off on 28 June without a phone, food, or water.

Ms Cho’s case drew national attention as police and the FBI searched for Gabby Petito, another missing woman who was eventually found dead. As Ms Petito’s case gained an explosion of worldwide news coverage, some online communities criticized the relative lack of resources devoted to the search for Ms Cho.

“I don’t know much about her case, but let’s get the same energy going to help locate #LaurenCho as we did for #GabbyPetito,” one Twitter user wrote on 19 September. That post was then retweeted 47,000 times.

Some saw a racial bias in the alleged inattention to Ms Cho, who was Korean-American, as opposed to the sensational focus on Ms Petito, who was white.

This is a breaking news story. More to follow