Missing Persons

Paula Lopez, SoCal TV Anchor, Found After Being Reported Missing

Updated at the bottom. She was found safe. Headline has changed. First posted at 4:50 p.m. A Santa Barbara television news anchor has gone missing. Station KEYT News Channel 3 announced this afternoon that its own Paula Lopez was reported missing this morning. The station says the Santa Barbara C ... More >>

Cecil Hotel All But Abandoned By Short-Term Guests Even As Water Tests OK

See also: Elisa Lam: Body On Roof Of DTLA's Cecil Hotel Said To Be That Of Missing Tourist. The Cecil Hotel downtown was all but abandoned by most if not all of its short-term guests as the L.A. County health department issued a "do not use water" order following the discovery of a missing tourist' ... More >>

Elisa Lam: Body On Roof Of DTLA's Cecil Hotel Said To Be That Of Missing Tourist

Updated at the bottom: A body found in the hotel's water tank has markings matching those of Lam, police say. First posted at 1:34 p.m. Police believe a body found on the roof of the Cecil Hotel downtown is that of missing Canadian tourist Elisa Lam, LAPD officials told the Weekly. The discovery a ... More >>

Cinefamily's Series on the Documentaries of Shohei Imamura

Stephan Ivans, FBI Agent, Might Have Been Found Dead in Burbank

The body of an FBI agent feared to be suicidal appears to have been found in the foothills above Burbank, police said this morning. Stephan Ivans was a 35-year-old L.A.-based lawman said to be despondent when he went for a walk in the Verdugo Mountains in spring. KNX 1070 Newsradio reported that a ... More >>

Stephen Ivans, FBI Agent, Goes Missing With Gun in Verdugo Mountains

FBI special agent Stephen Ivans went off the reservation, gun in-hand, prompting a massive search for him in the Verdugo Mountains east of Burbank over the weekend. Authorities fear he's suicidal. What's more he's an avid hiker who knows the area well. According to a statement from the Burbank p ... More >>

Hervey Medellin: Hollywood Body Parts Victim ID'd

Updated at the bottom: The Times ID's the victim. Our headline has changed and this piece was wholly rewritten after we picked up a false report of an arrest in the case. First posted at 6:54 p.m. Thursday. Reports of an arrest in the grisly case of human body parts found this week in the Hollywood ... More >>

Brandon Olterman, Young L.A. Artist, Goes Missing After Runyon Canyon Hike

bluffton.eduMissing person Brandon Olterman played soccer in college.​A young children's book illustrator and graphic artist from Los Angeles has gone missing after taking off for a hike in Runyon Canyon on Sunday afternoon. Brandon Thomas Olterman, 26, is currently being sought by the LAPD's ... More >>

Bree'Anna Guzman-Ruiz Is Missing: Young Lincoln Heights Mom Went Out for Cough Syrup, Never Came Home

Bree'Anna Guzman-Ruiz via Facebook​LAPD detectives are trying to track down a 22-year-old mother of two who went missing Monday night in Lincoln Heights. Bree'Anna Guzman-Ruiz, as she spells her name on Facebook, told her family on the evening after Christmas that she was going out to buy cou ... More >>

USC Student Knocked off Motorcycle by Hit-and-Run Driver 'in Critical Condition'

Google MapsThe driver was last seen speeding west on Lexington.​A 21-year-old motorcycle rider who attended USC was run over by a burgundy GMC Safari van from 1993 yesterday, just after the sun went down. After crashing into the bike at Vermont and Lexington near Los Feliz, the van took off do ... More >>

Grim Sleeper: Eight More Victims Linked to Case of Alleged Serial Killer Lonnie Franklin Jr., Cops Say

Lonnie Franklin Jr.​Updated: In an exclusive, Christine Pelisek of the Daily Beast has the names and photos of the new victims connected to the investigation -- here. We also update after the jump with some of the names police have subsequently put forward. LAPD detectives say they [added:] m ... More >>

Tanya Fielding, 24-Year-Old With 'Special Needs,' Missing For a Week From Downtown Los Angeles

Tanya Fielding.​A 24-year-old woman who has the mental capacity of a 15-year-old has been missing for a week, and friends and family members are concerned. Actor David Hasselhoff weighed in, tweeting, "A friend of mine's sister is missing. She was last seen in Downtown LA. If you are in LA ple ... More >>

Officials Search for Body Under Cafe's Floor

Flickr/WordRiddenRestaurant owner/chef David Viens may have run out of thyme. ​ According to the Los Angeles Times' LA Now blog, Los Angeles County sheriff's investigators and coroner's officials were busy digging up the floor of a Lomita restaurant Tuesday afternoon, looking for the remains o ... More >>

Bellflower Dad Who Threatened, Kidnapped Two Daughters Turns Up in Utah

Los Angeles County Sheriff's DepartmentKatelyn Litwin (left) and Natalya Litwin (right)​The was an Amber Alert out this morning for 34-year-old Bellflower man Stephen Andrew Litwin, who was believed by L.A. County sheriff's deputies to have kidnapped his two young daughters Sunday at about 10: ... More >>

'Superman' Producer Ilya Salkind Went Missing Near Mexico City After Talking to Associates in L.A.

Ilya Salkind went missing Sunday or Monday.​Update: He was found and he's mostly okay (no kidnapping was involved). A family statement: We have learned that Ilya was taking an stroll and had an accident. He was taken to a hospital and unfortunately he didn't have his cell phone with him and c ... More >>

Keifer Jacob Farfan, 12-Year-Old Missing Boy from Westlake District, Turns Up Safe

Los Angeles TimesKeifer Jacob Farfan has been missing for two days.​ Update: The missing boy has been found! Find out about his dramatic return on next page. Police are continuing their search this morning for a missing 12-year-old boy from the Westlake District who was last seen on Wednesda ... More >>

Missing: Large, Inflatable Gorilla Vanishes From SoCal Car Dealership

Ventura County Star​Missing: One large, $4,000 gorilla, 350 pounds, 30 feet tall. No he's not Godzilla, and he's not about to terrorize Southern California. He's inflatable. And he actually needs air like the rest of us. According to the Ventura County Star, the gorilla was last seen on Frida ... More >>

Missing 13-Year-Old Karina Valencia Found Safe After MySpace Scare

LAPDKarina Valencia.​A missing 13-year-old girl was found safe Wednesday night about an hour after a news conference on her case was held by the Los Angeles Police Department. Karina Valencia was spotted riding in a car in Sylmar by officers on patrol who decided to take a closer look when the ... More >>

LAPD Fears MySpace Rendezvous Behind Case Of Missing 13-Year-Old Sylmar Girl

LAPDKarina Valencia.​Updated with upcoming news conference about possible connection to a gang-related shooting. Originally posted at 10:08 a.m. Police this week were searching for a missing 13-year-old girl who they fear might have met a male on MySpace and possibly fled with him. The girl's ... More >>

Mitrice Richardson: Officials Confirm Remains Found In Malibu Belong To Her

​Remains found in an unincorporated canyon area near Malibu belong to missing woman Mitrice Richardson, county authorities announced Thursday morning. Sheriff Lee Baca and coroner's Lt. Ed Winter told reporters that tests confirm the bones found Monday afternoon in the Monte Nido area belong ... More >>

LAPD, Santa Barbara Authorities To Reveal Identity Of Burned Body

​ Updated throughout. Originally posted at 8:08 a.m. Los Angeles police and Santa Barbara County Sheriff's on Wednesday identified a burned body found July 15 in Santa Barbara County as that of 48-year-old Tarzana resident Bernardo Alvarez. The discovery of the body, said to have been burne ... More >>

Mitrice Richardson May Have Been Sighted In Vegas

​ The saga of Mitrice Richardson, who disappeared last September after leaving a somewhat remote L.A. Sheriff's Department outpost, may have a good ending, according to Sheriff's Department spokesman Steve Whitmore. He told the Weekly she is believed to have been seen in Las Vegas. Officials a ... More >>

'Missing White Woman Syndrome' Still A Bias For Southern California Media?

Norma Lopez.​Following the wide attention recently given to the tragic case of 17-year-old Norma Lopez, the Inland Empire teenager whose body was found in a field in Moreno Valley this week, it's fair to ask if the news media still give more air time and ink to missing white women than they do ... More >>

Body Found Following Search For 17-Year-Old Norma Lopez, Who Was Reported Missing

Norma Lopez.​Updated throughout. Inland Empire authorities searching for 17-year-old Norma Lopez confirmed Wednesday afternoon that a body found late Tuesday in Moreno Valley, not far from where the girl was last seen, is that of the missing teen. Some of her personal items were found in the ... More >>

LAPD Arrests Nine People At Lakers Parade

​The downtown parade celebrating the Los Angeles Lakers' NBA championship wrapped up Monday afternoon with no major incidents to report, according to fire and police officials. Officer Rosario Herrera told the Weekly nine people were arrested, but she did not have details. Two children were re ... More >>

Mexican Prosecutors Expected To Recommend Charges Against 'Survivor' Producer

The Beresford-Redmans.​A day after a memorial was held for Monica Beresford-Redman, reports indicated that Mexican prosecutors on Monday would recommend murder charges against her husband, former Survivor producer Bruce Beresford-Redman. However, as slow as the investigation has been into her ... More >>

'Survivor' Producer Questioned In Wife's Death Returns To L.A. Despite Warnings From Mexican Authorities To Stay Put

Bruce and Monica Beresford-Redman.​The former Survivor television show producer who was suspected in his wife's death in Mexico has returned to Los Angeles despite warnings by authorities south of the border to stay there as they continued to investigate. "Bruce Beresford-Redman has returned ... More >>

Missing Ex-UCLA Student Left Under Pressure, Made Up Story Of Abduction, Police Say

Glendale Police Department​A onetime UCLA student who went missing Wednesday apparently fled because of pressure she felt: She was expected by family to graduate this spring but declined to tell her kin she dropped out of school in 2008, police said. Nancy Salas, 22, took a bus to Merced, whe ... More >>

UCLA Student Missing After Heading Into Glendale Hills For A Jog

Glendale Police Department​Authorities were searching for a third-year UCLA student who was reported missing Wednesday morning after she failed to return home after her morning jog. Nancy Salas, 22, headed out from her home at 2202 Eleanore Drive in Glendale at 6:30 a.m., according to Glendal ... More >>

Missing Ex-UCLA Student Found Safe In Merced

Google Maps​That missing 22-year-old woman who was once enrolled at UCLA has been found safe in Merced, Glendale police reported Thursday afternoon. The circumstances behind Nancy Salas' disappearance were not immediately known. "Nancy Salas has been located,'' said Glendale police Sgt. Tom L ... More >>

Missing British Teen 'Alive,' 'Out There,' Police Say

SMPDLeona Dawn Perryman.​Santa Monica police now say they believe missing British 19-year-old Leona Dawn Perryman is alive and probably is not the victim of foul play. Officers picked up her boyfriend, 45-year-old Paul Alfred Atkinson, Wednesday evening after he was named as a person of intere ... More >>

Search For Woman Who Went Missing From Sheriff's Station Upshifts

Matrice Richardson.​The strange saga of Mitrice Richardson is now a murder investigation, according to sheriff's officials. The woman went missing from the sheriff's Lost Hills station early on the morning of Sept. 24 after she was detained there for allegedly failing to pay a restaurant bill ... More >>

Italian Chef Disappears From Cruise Ship: No Michelin Stars Involved

The FBI has been called in to investigate the disappearance of an Italian chef who went missing from a cruise ship en route from Aruba to Cartagena, Columbia. The ship docked yesterday in Los Angeles. 31-year-old Angelo Faliva was last seen on the morning of November 26th on the deck of the Princes ... More >>

FEET, MEET PAVEMENT

Lily Burk Murder Suspect Arrested

Associated Press has just announced that Los Angeles police have arrested a 50-year-old man in connection with the brutal murder of 17-year-old Lily Burk, whose body was discovered in her car Saturday. She had been abducted and reported missing Friday after running an errand for her mother. The susp ... More >>

Bill Would Allow Video Advertising on Freeway Signs

A bill that would authorize advertisements on freeway signs used for Amber Alerts and other emergencies in California is headed for a state senate committee hearing next week. Called the "State Highway Operation and Protection Program Emergency Funding Act," the bill would allow Caltrans to turn o ... More >>

An Early Frost, and Nixon

Caltrans Proposes Plan for "Vegetative Advertisements" along the Freeways

What would you think if you saw a Fed Ex logo made out of tulips as you were motoring along one of California's freeways? How about the Golden Arches made from yellow roses or buttercups along the shoulder of the road? It turns out that putting "vegetative advertising" - a logo or advertisement m ... More >>

The Notebook Guy

Vanished series creator Josh Berman keeps the world in three rings

Emmery’s Mysterious End

Did the 14-year-old’s killer meet her at a party?

Freeways to Perdition

The Hunt for Daniel Pearl

A letter from Pakistan