Im in DMV limbo, help?

I bought this VR4 a few months ago and I lost the title and bill of sale somehow. I think my son threw the envelope with the paperwork in it away, he has this habit of picking stuff up and throwing it away, what can you do hes 3! Lol... I was going to go try to register it, but now...I cant. I cannot reach the old owner by phone or by email and last I checked she was moving out of state. What do I do now? I heard about this Lien sale thing, but geez it sounds quite complicated. I went to DMV, and they told me I had to get a bill of sale...Which I have tried. What do I do now? I'm in California.

Have you tried the VIN ? Take it to the DMV or someplace and try to trace the previous owner. Carfax maybe ( just a wild shot ) call them tell them what happened AFTER you have spoken to the DMV about this and they might be able to find out who he/she is.
You can always go to the police and they can send the info for the owner to the DMV. ( leave that as a last resort )

Hope that gave you a couple of ideas.

I scanned through this>>>Vehicle Registration and Title Information

Seems to have some relevant information. You may want to go through the trash to save yourself some trouble.

Sell the kid for a title?