MOORPARK : Officer Won’t Be Billed for Search

Los Angeles Police Sgt. Christopher Vasquez of Moorpark, who turned up Dec. 15 after a five-day absence, will not be billed for the search to locate him, Sheriff’s Department spokesmen said Friday.

Vasquez has returned to active duty, police said.

The Ventura County Sheriff’s Department does not charge individuals for search-and-rescue efforts and does not intend to bill Vasquez, Assistant Sheriff Oscar Fuller said.

The hunt for Vasquez had the largest number of searchers ever involved in a manhunt in Ventura County, said Lt. Arve Wells of the sheriff’s Search and Rescue Unit.

The search was launched because of the circumstances of Vasquez’s disappearance and not because he is a police officer, Fuller said.

Vasquez was reported missing when he failed to show up for work as assistant watch commander at the North Hollywood police station Dec. 10. He returned to his estranged wife’s Simi Valley residence Dec. 15 and told officers that he had hitchhiked to Salinas because he needed time to think about personal problems.

Sheriff’s officials would not estimate the cost of the three-day search but said that it was not a record-breaker. About 90% of the 285 people involved were volunteers.

Officials believe Vasquez was unaware of their efforts to locate him, Fuller said.

Vasquez returned to work Wednesday, following a psychiatric evaluation which found him fit for duty, said Los Angeles Police Capt. Dan Watson, Vasquez’s supervisor at the North Hollywood station.

The 20-year veteran has been temporarily reassigned to the department’s San Fernando Valley headquarters in an administrative position, Watson said.