10ofRods
Verified Anthropologist
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- Jun 27, 2019
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I have heard of LE bringing in "missing persons" they locate who need help for an evaluation. I just hope they would do everything they could to help someone.
I could see a parent asking for tips to be forwarded to LE and also to them, if they don't trust LE to follow through. (I don't know anything about this particular case.)
I am convinced I saw Brian Laspisa near a riverbed, some 20 miles from where his car was abandoned. This was in 2019. I called the police, told them where I'd seen him and they took a report. They did not see anyone at that place (and they didn't send anyone to look right away).
So I contacted his hotline and the FB page run by his mom. We messaged back and forth. The person responding would not give their name, I gave them my real name. They said that others had reported him in the same general area but that I should call LE as there was nothing else to be done. I distributed a few posters of what he looked like (using software to show that his skin looked very sunburnt and he had a scruffy beard, he looked very weathered). I gave the posters to the fast food restaurant nearby and to a couple of businesses where I know the owners, nearby. I talked to a person I know who works for local police and they said the area where I'd seen him (with a cardboard sign begging for money) was associated with drug users who live in the nearby riverbed. I've driven in that area many, many times. They cleared out the main homeless encampment there in the first months of COVID. There are still homeless, but they've moved further into the brush in the riverbed. There's a food bank immediately near by, as well.
At any rate, it's impossible to find a person who doesn't want to be found is the main message I got from the FB page operator, the police, my friend inside the police and my own experience with this. I do know that the transient population in that area includes more than just drug users, they do move around a lot. It's about 7 miles from what used to be called Hobo Jungle and there are still homeless people living there, constantly on the look-out for LE and anyone else who might challenge them (they aren't supposed to be there, but nothing gets done unless there are signs they are using campfires, for obvious reasons).
In California, LE can't force a mental health exam unless the person seems to be an imminent danger to himself or others. They can definitely coax them into a shelter or facility if the person wants to go. I've watched them do it a few times. Otherwise, if they are disturbing the peace, they go over to the jail for a night or two, then are again lost to contact.
Sorry to clutter up Dane's thread with this. It appears he went north from Castaic, Brian Laspisa may have headed west. I think they may both still be alive.