Deputies Fail to Find Missing Youth

Sheriff’s deputies on Tuesday turned up no solid clues to the whereabouts of John Joseph Wolsiffer Jr., an epileptic who wandered away from his sister Sunday in Sunset Beach.

“We haven’t found him yet nor have we received any leads with good positive information to find him,” said Sheriff’s Department spokesman Lt. Richard J. Olson.

Search coordinators set up a mobile command post with radios and telephones near the Sunset Beach volunteer fire station. At one time, the search party numbered 22 deputies and reserve deputies and one bloodhound, Olson said.

Callers from as far away as southern Orange County have reported seeing the La Mirada resident. But if Wolsiffer borrowed money and hopped on a bus, “he could be anywhere,” Olson said, adding that if the young man stayed on the beach, he might have walked as far south as Newport Beach.

Wolsiffer, an 18-year-old with a mental age of 10, depends on two daily medications to control and prevent his epileptic seizures. When he disappeared he was wearing only his gray and blue swim trunks. He was described as about 6 feet tall and weighing 150 pounds, with blue eyes and brown hair.

Wolsiffer’s family said he has no history of disappearing, Olson said. Wolsiffer knows how to swim and had been swimming earlier Sunday morning.

“We hate to think about that,” Olson said, “but there’s always the possibility that he decided to go swimming and something happened.”

The ocean has been fairly calm, but there have been a few riptides, Olson said.

Deputies have no reason to suspect foul play, he said.

“We’re still out there looking,” Olson said. “We’re keeping our fingers crossed.”

Anyone with information on Wolsiffer’s whereabouts is asked to call (714) 647-7000.