CA CA - Bryce Laspisa, 19, Castaic, 30 Aug 2013 - #1

[StacyMarie83]

Hmmm. Very strange. If he obtained roadside assistance why didn't he leave? Why stay by the side of the road? And was he in contact with his mom during that time? What was he saying?

The Adderall to stay up, or whatever he was taking, sounds dangerous. I always think of the initial onset of psychosis with kids this age. The initial onset can be devastating. Sleep induced psychosis can be devastating as well. Look at that guy who got naked in San Diego and went running around.

But this is all so odd.

http://www.signalscv.com/section/36/article/104116/

this has more times and information IMO Still very confusing :banghead:

 

[UCLAEigenguy]

http://www.signalscv.com/section/36/article/104116/

this has more times and information IMO Still very confusing :banghead:

That looks like an updated version of the article, and is much better.

I don't understand why his mother would ask to speak to his friends and tell them to return the car keys. I remember reading that and forgot about it when a body was found. That is very strange behavior especially after offering to fly up there.

Additionally, he claims his GPS said he would arrive in 3.5 hours. According to Google Maps, at 4:30pm (traffic), the ride takes a little less than 3 hours... from Buttonwillow. Now I am wondering if he ever left Buttonwillow.

I hope there is some update today.

 

[BluePoppy]

I just realized he graduated from high school in Illinois. So He only moved to SoCal summer of 2012, somehow went to college at Sierra (why a community college so far away?), met his gf there, who graduated this last spring.

Jumping in here, but I keep going back to the fact that mom is REALLY overly involved in Bryce's life. Why does she think he would need her to fly up because of personal relationship troubles? That, paired with the constant checking in calls, prior missing persons report and the dad's quote of loving him unconditionally despite other things he's done--I think Bryce might have had some mental stability issues or at least displayed behavior that made the parents think he needed near constant supervision.

THIS was my very first thought, IAC! I felt like he was on a road trip, it was late, he said he needed to sleep (from 2am call - I hadn't yet realized he'd been in Buttonwillow for 24+ hrs) & maybe his parents were on his back to get on the road, he got as far as Castaic & had to pull over again, because he was just too tired & somehow met up with foul play.

My sense at this point is Bryce wasn't with anyone. I get the feeling he was having some sort of mental breakdown. Then he either killed himself or fell prey to a weirdo.

This was my 2nd thought - suicide. Maybe he felt he couldn't go home & face his parents with whatever it was he had to talk about.

 

[StacyMarie83]

here is an article about suicide by fire...called self-immolation. never heard of it until i googled it--more of a ritual or sacrifice (but suicide). interesting none-the-less. I always think of mental illness at this age---it's the age when it "pops" for a lot of kids and unfortunately the people who know them best aren't around when they are away.

I'm not saying HE was suicidal, just thought it was an interesting subject while we were speaking of spontaneous combustion and such.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-immolation

 

[PMLsmom]

I am from Bakersfield, and worked at the McD's in Buttonwillow many moons ago. It is really built up there now, with several restaurants, motels, etc. right off the freeway. The rest stop is not even 1/2 mile north of the "Buttonwillow" offramp.

Bakersfield, in that area, has NOW grown almost to I-5, with over 350,000 people.

So while he "could" have been in the TOWN of Buttonwillow (west of the freeway), he was most likely at the "right off the freeway" area, or even into new residential areas of Bakersfield.

Lots of unsavory stuff going on out there. I had an ex-boyfriend, who was a drug dealer unbeknownst to me...long story short - they were running a meth lab off of 1-5 (kinda right there :0 ) in an old farmhouse, with armed guards!

ETA - I worked for Dept. of Water Resources, and they run the State Water Project (SWP). The Southern Field Division was once located AT Castaic Lake...and they still run the waterways (they relocated the Admin. buildings to Palmdale). Security on SWP property is really monitored. The SWP is on the top 100 terrorist hit list.

ETA, Again - There is a huge CHP office right off the freeway at the next southern exit...

 

[inarcadia]

FYI -

"As of this moment, they have NOT confirmed it is a male; they have NOT confirmed it is Bryce's body. I will NOT be posting any further information or speaking to any media until I hear it directly from my detective assigned to the case. Too much miscommunication and we cannot jeopardize any investigations. Please do the same."

per the family's facebook, the gender of the body has not yet been ID'd.

 

[Voice4theSilent]

Well did they ask him why the hell he was still there hanging out by his car in the middle of nowhere? And why did they spend do much time with him (20 minutes)? I think he was not acting normally.



My sense at this point is Bryce wasn't with anyone. I get the feeling he was having some sort of mental breakdown. Then he either killed himself or fell prey to a weirdo.

From what I understand, they made contact with him, talked to him for a few minutes, searched his car and then spoke to his mom over the phone telling her he was fine. I can see that taking 20 minutes. I agree that his actions of staying at a truck stop for over 24 hours is weird but his demeanor, according to the police and the man who brought him gas, wasn't abnormal.

The scenario that I keep coming back to, based on the facts we have, is that possibly he may have gotten in over his head with something and he was either meeting someone out at the truck stop (which got moved once the police showed up to check on him) or he was trying to avoid someone by staying out there and not going to his apartment or to his parent's home. Driving around in Castaic early in the morning makes me think that he was looking for something specific that he thought would be out in that area (whether it was a person or a place to dump his car, I don't know.) It still strikes me as odd that Long Beach homicide took over the investigation. I wonder if there is more of a connection there that we don't know about yet.

I wonder, in regards to the surveillance tapes, what the time lapse was between his three passes in the video on that morning and if they can tell if he was the one driving his car.

 

[Seajay]

Here is a paraphrased timeline from the article cited in my previous post. Notice that the beginning of the timeline does not make sense and may be a typo.

Wed 1:30pm
Announces he is breaking up with GF.
Mother offers to fly up. He declined says he has "a lot to talk about" with mother.

Wed 10pm
Left Sierra College to go home

Wed 11:30pm
Called roadside assistance from Buttonwillow. (1.5 hours is impossible to travel such distance)
...
???
Roadside assistance checks him at mother's request. Is fine, but eyes are a little red.
...
???
Roadside assistance (some other articles say Kern County PD) checked again. He is now 5 miles away from the rest stop after having been there for 10 hours.
...
Thu 10:30pm
"I'm just chilling. I'm going to hang with friends later."

Thu 11:00pm
Buys a drink from a Shell gas station near Buttonwillow (he is still there)

Fri 12:50am
No answer to call.

Fri 1:50am
Answered. Says there are no lights and cannot see any signs.

Fri 2:08am
Tells mother he is pulling off I-5 to sleep.

Fri Some time 4:20am - 5:15am
Bryce's car is in an accident.

Fri 8:00am
CHP asks parents if their car was stolen.

...

Tue 6:04am
911 call receieved about brush fire 3 miles north of Lake Hughes Rd.

Tue 6:22am
Firefighters reach the fire and discover a burning body.

Today is Wednesday. Body was found this morning.

 

[UCLAEigenguy]

I just realized he graduated from high school in Illinois. So He only moved to SoCal summer of 2012, somehow went to college at Sierra (why a community college so far away?), met his gf there, who graduated this last spring.

Yeah this really piques my interest. It is pretty rare these days for someone to move away to go to a community college. Those I know that did were trying to get away from something (parents etc.) or to follow a GF/BF.

Ok, I should get back to work. My mind is just going in circles now...

 

[gitana1]

Just jumping off your post with a thought of my own...

Bryce's mom said he was in button willow 'hanging with friends' for 9 hours. At first I thought it was poor reporting, how could he have friends in buttonwillow, it's merely a stop on the way home. But what if someone he knew from high school, or someone he just met at college lived in buttonwillow? Maybe his connection for ADHD meds lived there, or was visiting there for long weekend etc. Maybe something went wrong with a drug deal?

There are just too many bizarre behaviors leading up to his disappearance. If he were just a kid on his way home for a planned visit with parents I would think crime of opportunity. But heading home without telling parents he is coming, running out of gas on the way, disappearing for 9 hours on the trip, and then 3 trips around to Casaic Lake is just too hinky. I think they should question his college friends and look at his phone records really closely...jmo

I think it would be very easy to find out if he had friends there. I don;t think he did. LE found him at his car,l not at a firend's house, hours after he first ran out of gas.

So I think it took 20 minutes because they searched his car. Which seems weird, no?

Not if he was acting bizarrely, which the new time line posted clearly seems to show:


8/26 (Mon.) - Bryce goes to class. The mother states she had a “good normal conversation” with him. Her emphasis on normal makes me wonder what she is concerned about.

The report then says that the family has a photo taken of him that afternoon in which he appears happy. How can they have a photo taken of him if he is at school in Sacramento unless they were also there?


8/27 (Tues.) - Bryce's girlfriend notes that he is acting weird (where is he at this time? I guess this is via a phone call?) and he then admits he took some ADHD medication.


8/28 (Wed.) The next day, the following occurs:

10:00 p.m. - Wednesday - Bryce reportedly tries to break up with his girlfriend. Friends, concerned about his behavior, take away his car keys. What was his behavior like? What had them so concerned? Seems like their instincts were good. And what does "tries" mean. Did he speak to the girlfriend? Did he attempt to break up with her or did he just talk about wanting to do it?

10:30 p.m. Wednesday - Karen Laspisa tells the friends, by phone, to return the keys to her son after she speaks to him. He tells her: “I have a lot to talk to you about.” Why did the mom go against the instincts of the friends? What a shame.

11:30 p.m. Wednesday - Bryce Laspisa leaves Chico.

8/29 (Thurs.)

9:00 a.m. Thursday - Bryce runs out of gas near the Buttonwillow Rest Area, west of Bakersfield.

12:00 p.m. Thursday - a roadside assistance serviceman named Christian delivers three gallons of gasoline to Bryce, according to a $20 credit card purchase for the fuel. “He’s not answering his phone (at this time),” his mother said.

12:30 p.m. Thursday - Karen Laspisa calls serviceman Christian and asks about her son. He tells her he appears “OK” but adds: “His eyes look a little red.” Bryce does not answer his cell phone.

9:00 p.m. Thursday - responding to a call from the mother - some reports say welfare check some say missing person's report, which is it? - CHP officers stop and search Bryce’s car spotted on Lagoon Drive in Buttonwillow. Some reports say they searched for drugs or alcohol but found none. The mom told John and Ken that the police spent 20 minutes with her son. Why so much time? Why were they searching for drugs or alcohol?
Shortly after 10 p.m. Thursday - Karen speaks to her son on the phone and asks: “What are you doing?” His response, she said, is: “I’m going to hang with friends later.” Did she ask what friends and where?

11:00 p.m. Thursday - Bryce tells his mother he’s buying a beverage at a gas station. A purchase is made for $1.71, she said.
Shortly after midnight Thursday - “He tells me he’s on the I-5 south but he’s telling me nothing,” she said.

8/30 - (Fri.)

1:50 a.m. Friday - Bryce, by phone, tells the mother that he “had detoured off I-5 but was back on the I-5.”

2:08 a.m. Friday - Karen Laspisa talks to her son for the last time. He tells her his GPS tells him he will arrive in Laguna Niguel in three hours and 25 minutes. “He told me ‘I got off the I-5 and I’m in a suburban area. I’m going to sleep in my car.’” What was his demeanor like?

2:08 a.m. to 5:00 a.m. Friday - Bryce makes three trips to the crash site – the last trip ending with the crash, according to what his mother described as surveillance footage captured by cameras set up near Castaic Lake. What was he doing?

5:30 a.m. Friday - CHP officers locate his overturned SUV on a paved access road that leads to the Castaic Lake Main Boat ramp, at the bottom of a 15-foot ravine, on its side, with its rear window smashed. Although he left the valuables – laptop, cell phone and wallet – a duffle bag is found at the rear of the car and zipped open, prompting investigators to suspect he took something from it. He walked back from his car to a nearby lake after the crash, it appears.

9/4/13 (Wed.) - A burning body is found in the Lake Castaic area.


http://www.signalscv.com/section/36/article/104116/
http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=9235339
http://www.signalscv.com/section/36/article/104204/


My questions above in pink.


IMO, after reviewing the timeline, this is another case of a young person suffering a psychotic episode. I now believe he likely killed himself by immolation after wandering in the brush for days.

For those wondering how he could have remained out of sight in the area with people searching, etc., for days, it is very possible. This is a vast wilderness region dotted by very tiny small towns. He could have starved for several days and then killed himself. Clearly, he was revving up to do something, he had been acting oddly in the days before he went missing and his friends were so alarmed by his behavior that they attempted to0 confiscate his keys and prevent him from leaving. I feel very badly for them. They must have known something was wrong.

Clearly the mother also knew something was wrong as she offered to fly up there at one point and kept in contact with him and police and road side assistance during his two day trip.

It's horrible because there were several chances during the entire ordeal to save him and prevent him from harming himself but it's like everyone was just watching him in the process of falling down the rabbit hole, kind of helpless to keep him safe.

 

[UCLAEigenguy]

Today is Wednesday. Body was found this morning.

Yes, sorry. Today is my Tuesday ;-)

 

[UCLAEigenguy]

NOTE: I have not been able to verify this. This is what one news anchor on Twitter is reporting:

Jack Noyes KNBC
"Sheriff spokesman just said Castaic burned body discovered this morning NOT related to missing person Bryce Laspisa of Laguna Niguel."

 

[inarcadia]

It does sound like the ADHD meds may have triggered a psychotic episode, or even caused it if he took enough. Plus it doesn't sound like he slept at all at least from Wednesday night onward, maybe from Wed morning or Tue night -- recipe for disaster.

I think something must have happened in Buttonwillow -- whether he was attacked, followed, a drug deal, meeting other 'friends' who turned out to be not so friendly, etc. I hope law enforcement are searching there as well as Castaic and I hope they're interviewing his friends thoroughly... but it sounds like they acted in his best interest. Very sad.

 

[Idon'tneedthesame]

Bryce's mom on the radio:

http://www.iheart.com/live/KFI-177/

Not sure when it will be but they said she would be on. They are talking about The Kardashians right now

 

[LivingJuicy]

I am really hoping hard it's not him. Please please please. Earlier I had a weird thought that probably isn't realistic but if by chance it is him and is a suicide, why fire when water is so close? Got me thinking about drugs and body temperature. Here there was a case of a man on bath salts running around naked and literally biting another man's face. Is it chilly there at night to where he could have done something crazy? Also if he left belongings, it would assume it was planned because he would need a lighter or something.

Random crazy thoughts. This has given me major anxiety.

 

[Idon'tneedthesame]

I am really hoping hard it's not him. Please please please. Earlier I had a weird thought that probably isn't realistic but if by chance it is him and is a suicide, why fire when water is so close? Got me thinking about drugs and body temperature. Here there was a case of a man on bath salts running around naked and literally biting another man's face. Is it chilly there at night to where he could have done something crazy? Also if he left belongings, it would assume it was planned because he would need a lighter or something.

Random crazy thoughts. This has given me major anxiety.

I'm hoping with all my might too. My heart hurts so bad for his family.

 

[Quester]

Sounds like the girlfriend lives in Chico, BBM:

... Laspisa, who lived in Roseville and attended Sierra College north of Sacramento, vanished on the way to visit his parents in Laguna Niguel in Orange County.

He reportedly left his girlfriend's apartment in Chico at around 11:30 p.m. on Aug. 28. ...

​

http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2013/09/04/2666017/body-found-at-fire-in-northern.html
​

 

[gitana1]

From what I understand, they made contact with him, talked to him for a few minutes, searched his car and then spoke to his mom over the phone telling her he was fine. I can see that taking 20 minutes. I agree that his actions of staying at a truck stop for over 24 hours is weird but his demeanor, according to the police and the man who brought him gas, wasn't abnormal.

The scenario that I keep coming back to, based on the facts we have, is that possibly he may have gotten in over his head with something and he was either meeting someone out at the truck stop (which got moved once the police showed up to check on him) or he was trying to avoid someone by staying out there and not going to his apartment or to his parent's home. Driving around in Castaic early in the morning makes me think that he was looking for something specific that he thought would be out in that area (whether it was a person or a place to dump his car, I don't know.) It still strikes me as odd that Long Beach homicide took over the investigation. I wonder if there is more of a connection there that we don't know about yet.

I wonder, in regards to the surveillance tapes, what the time lapse was between his three passes in the video on that morning and if they can tell if he was the one driving his car.

I see speculation similar to this - that some previously very normal college kid suddenly got involved in something nefarious, which sounds like criminal activity, and met foul play as a result - in lots of cases. I've never seem it pan out though.

I think the odds of some white or Asian middle class college kid somehow suddenly becoming immersed in a shadowy underworld, are quite low.

The chances of such a kid suddenly suffering a psychotic episode due to the onset of schizophrenia or severe bi polar disorder or recreational drugs or a
Combination, are much greater.

THe facts and timeline here point more to the latter scenario as well. The search for drugs and alcohol by the police, the concerns of the mother, the bizarre behavior such as going back and forth to the crash site before crashing his car, hanging around by his car after needing roadside assistance, going on a 400 mile road trip without enough gas, making his friends worried enough that hey confiscated his keys, etc.

If he was meeting shadowy underworld people or drug dealers or whatever, there would be sightings of him with someone else or cell phone pings at someone's home or phone records showing calls to some unknown person.

Also, it makes no sense that Bryce would have to travel to Buttonwillow or Castaic to pick up drugs. He just came here from another state after high school? Then he would be unlikely to have any contacts in the middle of nowhere. It's easy to find all sorts of drugs including prescription drugs, in both Laguna Niguel and the Sacramento area. Too easy.

As far as the police staying he was fine, I'm not sure they said that - I think it was that he seemed to be in good spirits - but if they did, that doesn't impress me much. People in the midst of psychosis can seem relatively normal during some periods - think Amanda bynes - LE cannot 5150 someone unless they pose an obvious danger to themselves or others, and bizarre behavior is not enough, and psychosis can go from zero to 60 very quickly.

 

[mayelf]

Bryce's mom on the radio:

http://www.iheart.com/live/KFI-177/

Not sure when it will be but they said she would be on. They are talking about The Kardashians right now

On right now, mom is saying there were no issues going on like depression etc

 

[inarcadia]

On right now, mom is saying there were no issues going on like depression etc

Missed it, but I'm assuming she's saying no depression that she knew about. It sounds like there were definitely some things he may have been keeping from her.