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MOORPARK : Search for L.A. Officer Is Halted

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Law enforcement officers have discontinued their search for a Los Angeles police officer in the hills northeast of his Moorpark townhouse.

Los Angeles police began looking for Sgt. Christopher Vasquez, a 20-year-veteran of the force, Monday afternoon when he failed to show up for his 3:30 p.m. shift.

The Ventura County Sheriff’s Department launched an investigation Tuesday and has assisted in the search.

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The search party, which at times consisted of nearly 100 men, used helicopters, dozens of horses, off-road motorcycles and dog teams to comb a 45-square-mile area around Vasquez’s Moorpark townhouse.

Authorities said they had interviewed a rancher late Wednesday who said he saw a man who closely resembled Vasquez jogging along a dirt road in Alamos Canyon, just north of Simi Valley, Monday afternoon. But after an exhaustive search of the area Thursday, authorities decided to suspend their operations at 7 p.m.

“The people in charge of the search don’t believe he is in the area,” Lt. Bill Montijo of the Sheriff’s Department said. He said authorities will continue an investigation.

Los Angeles police said Vasquez had been having marital problems and recently separated from his wife, Pamela, who lives in Simi Valley with the couple’s 13-year-old daughter.

Pamela Vasquez, who works for the Simi Valley Police Department, declined to comment on her husband’s disappearance.

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