CA CA - Bryce Laspisa, 19, Castaic, 30 Aug 2013 - #10

[The4TierBridge]

Which case number? The case of the Hispanic man I was referring to? I read it in the LA Times, don't have a case number. Do you mean Coroner's case number or some other?

I may have misunderstood, but I was under the impression that both conversations were about this person; The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) (ME/C Case Number 2022-12348)

 

[10ofRods]

I may have misunderstood, but I was under the impression that both conversations were about this person; The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) (ME/C Case Number 2022-12348)

Oh - gotcha. I was just referring to an article in the LA Times - I think it was more recent.

I am still convinced I saw him at an intersection here in the L.A. area, holding up a cardboard sign, pretty badly sunburned, looking worn. It's a spot where police tell me that drug dealers make poor homeless people stand and beg for money, watching them from their cars nearby in an abandoned shopping center. It's very near a large homeless encampment, and not that far from Castaic. Easily accessible from Castaic by walking up a river bed.

I contacted the FB page for his search and was told he was sighted in the same area two other times. Police won't come unless a subject is behaving in an unlawful manner. This was 5 years ago, now, approximately.

 

[Niner]

I contacted the FB page for his search and was told he was sighted in the same area two other times. Police won't come unless a subject is behaving in an unlawful manner. This was 5 years ago, now, approximately.

I remember when you posted about his sighting! That long ago??

 

[10ofRods]

I remember when you posted about his sighting! That long ago??

Yes. I guess the consensus here is that I didn't see him (despite police and whoever is curating his FB missing page).

Okay. I'd then propose that he's probably not alive

But as someone who lives (and has lived for a long time) along the river corridor (FILLED with homeless and mentally ill people) I still believe that my local police department and whoever manags his FB missing page are correct. There have been multiple reported sightings. Which is typical in MP cases.

Lost to us.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

I wonder if he could be the unidentified John Doe from Los Angeles, CA found on August 04, 2025

That John Doe was identified the other day. I wish they would remove his case from NamUs. (To see the thread, use search term UP149748.)

 

[10ofRods]

I remember when you posted about his sighting! That long ago??

I think so. I"m just guessing and my memory isn't what it used to be! But it was while I was still teaching in the real world. At least a year before I retired - so maybe 3-4 years ago. I did age progression on the photo of Bryce from Facebook and it looked just like the guy I saw! Looked like a man who lived outdoors, with lots of damage to his skin, to the point where his boyish freckles were now a mass of large "age spots" from sun damage.

I distributed them to a few businesses near by (all of them declined to put the posters up). These businesses were a Carl's Jr (the manager said that he had never seen this person inside and that he would take the poster and ask his staff - I wouldn't know if any of them called in to the hotline). I drive through that intersection frequently and almost always think of Bryce. There are still people standing and begging on that same median strip and the big unused parking lot nearby is still empty, as the latest business to take it over has been postponing their opening for 2 years. There's a new apartment building on one corner now, but it's still possible to go on a well used trail next to that complex into the homeless encampments in the riverbed nearby. It's about a 5-10 minute walk to the first of these. There is a strip mall that has restrooms and water, the regular businesses there struggle with the impact of so many homeless people coming in to use the facilities, they believe it cuts into regular business. The movie theater that used to be there is now a church (and in fact, part of their mission was to bring some of those homeless people into their congregation on Sundays; I use the past tense because I've never seen anyone in the building in the past 3-4 years, so I guess it *was* a church and it may now be empty). Local LE has done a lot to strike down parts of these encampments due to the fact that they are a source of hard drugs like meth and also due to impact on public safety due to e. coli in our river water.