CA CA - Bryce Laspisa, 19, Castaic, 30 Aug 2013 - #9

[rosesfromangels]

I would also stress that checking along the face of the dam would be critical as if they were to find things disposed of that can be traced to Bryce, it would point towards walkaway rather than suicide.

Hey Tracker, good to "see" you! You've mentioned checking the dam for his personal effects a couple times; seems as if you might be leaning towards a walkaway? Did you say the dogs picked up a scent around the walk way of the dam?
I was leaning in this direction, but how does someone that distinctive looking go far without someone remembering them?

 

[NZkirsty]

Still think about bryce, can't believe its been over a year already. Where are you bryce?

 

[rachaellouise]

Ugh I hate that this case never really "took off" as some cases do when they're considered "cold". With the apparent sightings and people that have liked the facebook page, you would think it would still have a lot of interest and searchers.

 

[rosesfromangels]

Ugh I hate that this case never really "took off" as some cases do when they're considered "cold". With the apparent sightings and people that have liked the facebook page, you would think it would still have a lot of interest and searchers.

What sightings? I must be behind on this thread....

 

[rachaellouise]

What sightings? I must be behind on this thread....

I vaguely remember (from following the facebook page) there were a few mentions of people thinking they had seen Bryce all over the place. These were a few months ago if I remember correctly, probably weren't genuine but still kept people looking I guess.

 

[cluciano63]

Last year, he was "seen" in a lot of parts of S. Cal, in a motel at a buffet, etc

 

[sarx]

Last year, he was "seen" in a lot of parts of S. Cal, in a motel at a buffet, etc

Yep, there were sightings all over several states. Lots of people that they actually caught up with too. None of them were him.

 

[Fireweed]

Just was thinking about Bryce today because a friend of mine with schizophrenia just tried to kill herself. Like Bryce, she was born in spring and is left handed. Like him, in the early stages of her illness she got "lost" all the time. She could get lost just walking a few blocks from her house. Her illness took everyone off guard because schizophrenics are totally normal until their late teens or early 20's.

I strongly suspect that Bryce is a schizophrenic who is currently "lost" and "confused" and is out there somewhere.

 

[lillygator]

thinking of Bryce, hope he is ok out there somewhere.

 

[Fireweed]

If he is alive, then he is likely in some sort of homeless camp/area and the internet will not help all that much to find him. I would put his poster in soup kitchens, in areas where homeless people are known to frequent, at the library by the computers, and in places where the cigarettes are cheapest (schizophrenics smoke like chimneys). His family needs to make some posters showing what he would look like with a fuller beard and longer hair.

Everything about Bryce - from his strange behavior, to his birth month, to his issues with drugs, to him being left-handed just screams "onset of schizophrenia" to me. I have a friend with this disease and have seen up close and I am convinced that Bryce has it. People do not look at scruffy homeless people all that carefully and so I fear he will not be found unless people are willing to look for him in some pretty sketchy places.

 

[la2cabo]

I'm told the family has hired another private investigator. Let's hope the new P.I. has better luck and/or resources than the last one.

 

[Fireweed]

I'm told the family has hired another private investigator. Let's hope the new P.I. has better luck and/or resources than the last one.

I hope so too. It is simply my own belief that if Bryce is alive, then is suffering from a mental illness. He is not running from any severe problems, and on the day he went missing he was calling his mom. Clearly, his relationship with his mother is good enough that he would contact her if he could.

I could just see this guy all scruffy and living in a homeless area. He would be "self-medicating" with drugs and alcohol which would make his schizophrenia even worse. I do not see how a PI will help at this point, unless that PI is willing to go full-on boots on the ground.

How I would go about it? Well, there are people who float in and out of the homeless/very low end socioeconomic group and the rest of the world: teenage runaways and their like. Go around and ask people like them if they have seen him. Go to the areas of cities where these people congregate. One of the things these people do with regularity is use library computers to see if they need to check in with their probation officer. Why not have a program where the screensaver/homepage of public libraries has missing person's info?

I have seen this is real life before. A person with schizophrenia can be so out of it that they really do not know where they are, how they got there, how to contact friends and family, etc. When my friend with schizophrenia quit taking her meds, she did not recognize her own child.

Bryce's family has been way more open than many family's of missing persons and I applaud them for it. They seem to indicate that Bryce was having a "hard time" in the year or so leading up to his disappearance. That is exactly what happened to my friend. For an entire year before she really went downhill, she just seemed to be having a hard time. Weird stuff was happening to her that did not make sense. She greatly increased her smoking, drinking, and pot smoking. She went from a college-educated person with a job to a person with no home, no car, etc.

The problem is that scruffy homeless man who is "crazy" and who maybe does not have great hygiene (another issue my friend had) may be in plain sight and still not be seen.

 

[rosesfromangels]

God Bless you Fireweed. If Bryce isn't in the water close to where his car crashed, I agree your theory sounds the most plausible.

 

[Fireweed]

God Bless you Fireweed. If Bryce isn't in the water close to where his car crashed, I agree your theory sounds the most plausible.

Thanks. Well, the dogs indicated that he walked away. I firmly believe that Bryce is still alive. If he is alive though, and my theory is correct, then using social media is not the best way to find Bryce. Someone needs to hire some private security and go into various homeless encampments to look for him. When there, find out where those people buy their booze and cigarettes and put some posters there. If Bryce is really sick, he may have even seen posters and not be able to contact his family. The photos they have of Bryce show him clean-shaven, at a normal weight, and dressed quite nicely. He will not look like that now! They really ought to 'chop some pictures of him looking scruffy, wearing bad clothes, and 20 pounds thinner. If Bryce is alive with schizophrenia, then he is a member of the lowest underclass and would look it. He is probably somewhere is Southern California living in a camp or in another homeless area. He likely is smoking and drinking quite a lot too. I am sure there are social workers and other types who know where these places are, and who know where the mentally ill congregate vs. the drug addicts. Again, this is the lowest underclass there is. These people are not using twitter or facebook. They are not reading the paper all the time. Even if they see a poster of Bryce, they may not be able to make the connection to the guy in the camp.

 

[Trackergd]

Hey Tracker, good to "see" you! You've mentioned checking the dam for his personal effects a couple times; seems as if you might be leaning towards a walkaway? Did you say the dogs picked up a scent around the walk way of the dam?
I was leaning in this direction, but how does someone that distinctive looking go far without someone remembering them?

To me it is a 40/60 between being in the water or walkaway. Any personal effects down near the face of the dam would confirm walkaway to me. As I remember, one of the scent trails went across the dam and the road on the other side would take him out of the park.

I am wondering if the wreck of the SUV triggered a break and with everything else on his shoulders (the "thing" he wanted to talk to his mom about), he just tossed in the towel and walked away.

On an alternate theory...and I could be wrong, but I still don't think the SUV down the embankment was an accident. I think he could not get past the gates and tried to access the boat ramp by the only other egress available. Many folks mistakenly think an SUV can go anywhere, Bryce may have been one of them.

 

[Fireweed]

To me it is a 40/60 between being in the water or walkaway. Any personal effects down near the face of the dam would confirm walkaway to me. As I remember, one of the scent trails went across the dam and the road on the other side would take him out of the park.

I am wondering if the wreck of the SUV triggered a break and with everything else on his shoulders (the "thing" he wanted to talk to his mom about), he just tossed in the towel and walked away.

On an alternate theory...and I could be wrong, but I still don't think the SUV down the embankment was an accident. I think he could not get past the gates and tried to access the boat ramp by the only other egress available. Many folks mistakenly think an SUV can go anywhere, Bryce may have been one of them.

To me, all his actions that night just sound like someone who was very, very confused and disoriented. They do not seem like the actions of merely a troubled person, but rather a mentally ill troubled person. The kid had a cell phone and a GPS and was still lost and confused.

 

[Trackergd]

To me, all his actions that night just sound like someone who was very, very confused and disoriented. They do not seem like the actions of merely a troubled person, but rather a mentally ill troubled person. The kid had a cell phone and a GPS and was still lost and confused.

Where are the GPS and Cell Phone?

 

[Fireweed]

Where are the GPS and Cell Phone?

I thought I read that he had some sort of GPS in his car in addition to his phone. Did I read that wrong? And that he left both at the scene?

Edited: http://www.signalscv.com/archives/104116/

Yes I knew I had read that somewhere. He had a GPS and was still "lost".

 

[rosesfromangels]

To me it is a 40/60 between being in the water or walkaway. Any personal effects down near the face of the dam would confirm walkaway to me. As I remember, one of the scent trails went across the dam and the road on the other side would take him out of the park.

I am wondering if the wreck of the SUV triggered a break and with everything else on his shoulders (the "thing" he wanted to talk to his mom about), he just tossed in the towel and walked away.

On an alternate theory...and I could be wrong, but I still don't think the SUV down the embankment was an accident. I think he could not get past the gates and tried to access the boat ramp by the only other egress available. Many folks mistakenly think an SUV can go anywhere, Bryce may have been one of them.

This rings highly probable to me.

 

[Fireweed]

This rings highly probable to me.

I think that Bryce was operating under a lot of mistaken beliefs that night and preceding day. He may have driven down that slope and had an accident because he thought he was somewhere else entirely. He may have even believed he was on a regular road when he had the accident. His behavior of driving in and out of the Lake Castaic area a couple of times suggests to me at least that he was completely disoriented and was perhaps having hallucinations or delusions.