Mentally Disabled Oregon Man Missing After Tour Bus Trip

Three days ago, Russell Lomax, a 35-year-old mentally disabled native of Portland, Ore., set out to fulfill his lifelong dream of visiting the homes of the movie stars.

“It’s something he always wanted to do,” said John Himes, Lomax’s guardian and brother-in-law, who brought Lomax with him to California on Monday while he attended a business conference at the Anaheim Convention Center.

On Thursday morning, Himes put Lomax on a Gray Line tour bus from the parking lot of an Anaheim motel. He tipped the driver $5 to make sure that Lomax, who has the mental capacity of an 8-year-old, would be well cared for.

Lomax never returned.

On Saturday, Himes and local family members launched a publicity campaign about Lomax’s mysterious disappearance to get him back, hopefully unharmed.

“This is frightening,” Himes said before he and two relatives began circulating hundreds of flyers around Hollywood, where they assume Lomax got lost. “He could be anywhere. And he doesn’t know anything about this area.”

Lomax was last seen Thursday about 10 a.m. leaving the Gray Line bus when it made a short stop at the Mann Chinese Theater on Hollywood Boulevard, said Anaheim Police Officer Edward Thaete, who is handling the case.

Lomax was to go from the theater to a tour of the Beverly Hills homes of the movie stars and then return to the Jolly Roger Inn near Disneyland by 5 p.m., Himes said.

When Lomax did not show up in Anaheim, Himes called the bus company, which suggested that he call the hotels where the tour bus stopped. But Lomax was nowhere to be found.

By 7 p.m., an anxious Himes decided to call Anaheim police and report the disappearance.

But Thaete said the department, which has enlisted the help of the Beverly Hills police, has no leads in the case.

“It is very baffling,” Thaete said. “I have a lot of questions in my mind.”

Lomax was described as being 5 feet, 8 inches tall and weighing 160 pounds, with straight brown hair and a mustache. He was last seen wearing a green sweat shirt with a Mickey Mouse T-shirt over it, a pair of stone-washed jeans and low-top Reebok running shoes, Thaete said.

Thaete said Lomax carried a wallet with $25 in it. The wallet also contained his identification. But if the wallet has been stolen, Himes said, Lomax would have a difficult time telling people who he is.

“He is very shy with people,” Himes said, adding that Lomax would not be able to communicate with people at all if he felt confused or disoriented.

Himes said that Lomax not only has a severe speech impediment but has no conception of distance, numbers or even how to buy food.

By Friday night, with Himes remaining at the motel awaiting word from authorities, family members were scouring the Hollywood area, passing out flyers and looking in stores for Lomax.

“He’s especially interested in video stores, record stores and bookstores,” although he has no reading comprehension, said Deborah Himes, Lomax’s sister-in-law.

Frustrated by the lack of clues, John Himes decided to recruit the help of the Adam Walsh Child Resource Center on Friday night. The Westminster-based office, which specializes in finding lost children, helped design a flyer and has reported the disappearance to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Lynn Day, a spokeswoman for the resource center, said anyone who might have information about Lomax should call the center at (714) 898-4802 or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at (800) 843-5678.

Meanwhile, Deborah Himes and her father, Ray Olson, who lives in Huntington Beach, will continue to canvass the Hollywood area every night. John Himes said he will not go back to Portland but will remain with Olson until he learns what happened to his brother-in-law.

What is puzzling about the disappearance, John Himes said, is that Lomax is not the type to wander off by himself. Lomax’s family speculates that after missing the bus, he decided to walk back to Anaheim. That thought is unnerving to them.

“He doesn’t even know how to get off an escalator without getting frightened,” Deborah Himes said.