Police, Family Comb Neighborhood for Missing Boy, 12

Los Angeles police searched a Pacoima neighborhood without success Thursday for a missing 12-year-old boy who failed to return home from a trip to the supermarket.

Juan Carlos Vasquez left his apartment in the San Fernando Gardens federal housing project on Carl Place at 4 p.m. Wednesday to walk a quarter-mile to the Tresierras Market in the 13100 block of Van Nuys Boulevard. He had gone to buy milk for his mother, Isabel, authorities said.

It was an errand he had run many times before, police said.

“It would be entirely out of character for him to run away,” Lt. George Rock said. “We’re beginning to expect foul play at this time, though we have no evidence yet.”

The Vasquez family told detectives Thursday morning that Juan had defied the pitfalls of gangs and drugs which have plagued the housing project in favor of school work and dedication to his family, said Detective Nancy Lyon.

Family members told police that Juan was expecting straight A’s on his report card. He had just completed the seventh grade at Maclay Junior High School. His parents said he was taking a college preparatory class through Cal State Northridge, and had talked about becoming a police officer.

“Seems to be a pretty squared-away kid,” Lyon said. Juan’s disappearance, she said, does not fit the pattern of the typical youngster who runs away from home.

Family Started to Worry

Juan had been gone only 20 minutes when his family started to worry, said his sister, Ofelia, 13, the eldest of the six Vasquez children. It normally took Juan about 15 minutes to go to and from the market, Ofelia said.

Juan’s father, Carlos, started searching for the youngster. He told police that Juan was missing about 5 p.m. Wednesday, Ofelia said. “My father was upset because Juan usually comes directly home,” she said.

Thursday afternoon, the family sat together in their living room and waited.

“We searched the whole night,” Ofelia said. “We looked everywhere, even in trash cans.”

Police said Juan is 5-feet, 3-inches tall and has black hair and brown eyes. When last seen, he was wearing multicolored Bermuda shorts and a white T-shirt. Their investigation will continue on Friday.