MISSING : Most Involve Runaway Teen-Agers But 105 County Cases Remain Open

Richard Adams, a 23-year-old parking garage attendant from Ventura, vanished about a week ago. He was last seen playing with his dog and chatting with an unidentified man near Pierpont Beach. The dog walked trembling into the Doubletree Hotel 30 minutes later, but without his owner.

Marcus McConnell, a 29-year-old clerical worker from Oxnard, was last seen in late January, leaving a friend’s apartment in Ventura to drive to his parents’ house in El Rio. He never arrived.

Nancy Huter, a 36-year-old saleswoman and Bible study teacher from Thousand Oaks, disappeared about a year ago. A state park employee remembers noticing her walking along Mulholland Highway in Los Angeles County, where her car was found abandoned. She hasn’t been seen since.

They are only three of about 4,200 people reported missing in Ventura County since January, 1992, law enforcement officials said. Most of the “missing” are teen-agers who run away and return. Others include discontented spouses who leave abruptly. Overdue hikers and lost children are also considered missing until found hours later.

And a few simply vanish under suspicious circumstances.

Their relatives and friends typically say it’s out of character for them to leave without any notice. They anxiously post flyers, offer rewards and consult psychics. One family has even purchased an ad in a local newspaper. Sometimes their hopes are dashed when a body is later discovered.

As more time passes, the more likely it is that the missing person has been killed, law enforcement officials say. According to the state attorney general’s office, 105 cases in Ventura County remain open, dating back to 1970.

“They have not been located, alive or dead,” said Jeannine Willie, a statistician with the state Department of Justice Missing Persons Unit.

Two missing person cases were solved last year after their remains were found in Ventura County.

The body of Christopher Landry, a Los Angeles man reported missing in 1986, was found in November in Black Canyon outside Simi Valley. An examination of his remains determined he was shot several times with a 9-millimeter pistol.

The remains of Marcos Anthony Scott, a Thousand Oaks man reported missing in 1988, were found in June in a shallow grave in a Simi Valley ravine. The cause of death was two gunshot wounds to the head.

About two weeks ago, Huter’s friends and a private investigator conducted an unsuccessful search of Malibu Creek State Park for her body.

A psychic had told private detective Jay Jones that Huter may be found off Bulldog Road, but an hourlong hunt turned up nothing.

Her sister, Marlana Huter, said, “There’s foul play involved. There’s no way she would have just left without saying anything.”

Still, Huter said she remains hopeful. The family is offering a $25,000 reward for any information that might lead to her. “We’re not giving up hope of finding her,” Huter said.

Ventura County sheriff’s investigators say they are treating the case as a homicide.

Like Huter’s family, Marcus McConnell’s relatives say it’s doubtful the 29-year-old Oxnard man abruptly left town.

“It’s a real shocker,” said Francis McConnell, his father. “He’s never done anything like this before.”

Ventura Police Cpl. Bill Dzuro said he isn’t sure if McConnell left voluntarily or was kidnaped.

“Either he is out getting away and doing his own thing, or something has happened to him and someone is using his card,” Dzuro said. “There’s a lot of credit-card activity in Florida.”

McConnell’s friend Bonnie Neeper, however, is convinced something is wrong. McConnell doesn’t know people in Florida, and wouldn’t depart without letting someone know, she said.

Like Huter, Neeper says she is “still hopeful” about finding McConnell, even though two psychics have told her that he is dead.

Another possible victim who disappeared under suspicious circumstances is Trina Montgomery, a 20-year-old college student from Westchester who was last seen leaving an Oxnard party about three months ago.

Police say they are still baffled about the case. Several hours after she disappeared, her blue pickup truck was found in a remote canyon at the foot of Angeles National Forest. A small amount of blood was inside the truck bed.

Los Angeles Police Detective James Harper declined to say whether the blood was Montgomery’s. He said investigators are still following leads.

“A lot of things could have happened,” he said. “You just don’t know.”

In the case of Adams--the parking attendant who disappeared last week--police say it’s too early to speculate about abduction or death.

“There’s nothing to indicate that there’s foul play, but we have found no reasons for him to have left,” Ventura Police Cpl. Harry Scott said.

Adams’ sister said neighbors last saw him playing with his dog and talking with a man near their home in the Pierpont Beach area.

Half an hour later, the dog walked into the Doubletree Hotel alone, Tammy Adams said.

“That dog would not have been able to make it on his own from the house to the Doubletree in 30 minutes,” Adams said. “The lady who found the dog said he was shaking very badly.”

Adams said her brother left behind his truck, his wallet and keys. The television set was still on when her mother returned home later.

“It’s like he just disappeared off the face of the earth,” said Adams, whose family is offering a $1,000 award for information leading to his return.

Cases in which people simply vanish are rare, Simi Valley Police Detective Robert Hopkins said. In most instances, a body is later found or the person turns up in another city with a new life.

“I think there are very few truly missing persons,” Hopkins said. “Usually, it’s either a runaway juvenile or one of the spouses leaves, doesn’t come home and takes off for a few days.”

Teen-agers who run away from home comprise the highest number of missing people, law enforcement officials said. Since January, 1992, at least 3,170 missing juvenile reports have been filed, including many incidents involving teen-agers who repeatedly run away.

About 90% of juvenile runaways are located or return home in one or two days, Ventura County Sheriff’s Sgt. David Paige said.

“The biggest reason they run away is some kind of argument with the parents,” Paige said. “Kids do not like to be disciplined.”

Running away, Paige said, is not a crime. He added: “There’s not a lot of energy in locating them. I know that’s a terrible thing to say.”

Janice Christensen, whose 14-year-old daughter Chelsea has been missing since December, said authorities have been too slow in looking for her daughter, and she has decided to conduct her own search.

Chelsea appears to have left voluntarily with friends to follow the Grateful Dead rock group, Paige said. Her mother, who followed her up to Humboldt County, said Chelsea recently left her a note on a community bulletin board saying that she was OK.

Christensen, however, said she is bewildered about why her daughter left. Chelsea had never mentioned the Grateful Dead before, and nothing seemed wrong at home. Chelsea was an honor student and vice president of her ninth-grade class at Newbury Park High School, she said.

“She could be in Oakland. Or Humboldt,” Christensen said in an interview before she left to search for her daughter. “There’s a lot of danger out there for a 14-year-old.”

Danger is one reason why Linda Smith is suing the county of Ventura for allegedly causing her 19-year-old mentally retarded son to be missing for four days.

In August, 1991, Eric Schimmel--who was 19 but has the mental capacity of a 5-year-old--was released from the Ventura County Jail after a petty theft arrest and left to find his own way home to his family 80 miles away in Frazier Park, near the Kern County border.

He wandered for four days before sheriff’s deputies stumbled across him in Fillmore, where a resident complained that he was loitering.

Smith, his mother, has filed a $1.8-million lawsuit against the county, alleging that sheriff’s deputies negligently endangered Schimmel by freeing him at midnight without calling his family.

The lawsuit is still pending.

And then there’s the case of the “missing” young woman who was found in Port Hueneme, but is probably still considered missing elsewhere.

“Lucy Doe,” as authorities call her, was found walking the streets in September and still has not been identified.

She is illiterate, and does not speak. She communicates with hand gestures and body language. She was wearing clean clothes and carrying about $10 when she was found.

Police took her to Ventura County mental health workers, who later released her after ruling she was not a danger to herself or others. After that, she was taken to an Oxnard shelter and then to a Ventura care home that houses disabled residents.

She was last seen roaming in Oxnard.

“She has refused to go back to the board and care home that was offered to her,” said Letcy Ramos-Anselmo, a service coordinator for a nonprofit agency that works with people who have developmental disabilities. “Through sign language she indicated that she did not want to return. She has been sighted in Oxnard, but I don’t know where she is. I’m very worried about her, but we cannot force her to be in a home if she doesn’t want to be.”

The young woman was also featured on the television show “Unsolved Mysteries,” but no one has come forward to claim her, Port Hueneme Police Sgt. Fernando Estrella said.

“She’s found, but missing elsewhere,” Estrella said. “I’m sure her family is really worried about her.”

And family and friends of missing people say that’s the worst part. Not knowing if someone is still alive is almost worse than finding the person dead, said Marilyn Andrews, a close friend of Nancy Huter.

“I know it’s kind of morbid to be searching for her body,” Andrews said as she hiked in Malibu Creek State Park. “I just want an answer.”