UPDATE: Murrieta Woman Found Dead in Lake Elsinore Hotel Pool

A woman who went missing from Murrieta since Nov. 19 was found dead at the Travel Inn in Lake Elsinore on Thanksgiving.

Nicole Lambert Cruz, 26, was found dead in the lodge’s pool yesterday, according to her mother, Donna Lambert.

The woman was living with her grandfather in Murrieta when she went missing, Lambert said.

“She left for a walk and never came back,” Lambert said.

A Travel Inn associate who would not give her name said she could not discuss the matter and referred Patch to police.

At press time, Riverside County Sheriff's Department could only confirm that the woman was found dead in the pool and the cause of death is unknown pending an autopsy and toxicology report. The call to police came in yesterday at 11:55 a.m.

The Lambert family was in the media spotlight prior to Thanksgiving.

Donna Lambert’s elderly father Don, whom Nicole lived with, had been a fixture at Murrieta City Hall where he regularly advocated on behalf of medical marijuana patients. Don took up the cause after his daughter Donna was arrested in 2009 for marijuana possession in San Diego County.

Her case garnered significant media attention. She was accused of providing cannabis to an undercover police detective who posed as a medical marijuana patient. The sting was part of a larger investigation dubbed Operation Green Rx led by San Diego District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis.

In 2010, however, felony charges against Donna Lambert were dismissed.