THOUSAND OAKS : Searchers Unable to Find Missing Family

Pilots searching in Utah for a former Thousand Oaks planning commissioner and his family have so far failed to turn up any clues, despite help from a psychic on Monday.

After eight straight days of searching, volunteer Civil Air Patrol pilots have still seen no sign of K. Reed Harrison, his wife, Judith, or the couple’s youngest daughter, Julie.

The family has been missing since Sunday, July 25, when their single-engine plane failed to arrive at Camarillo Airport after taking off from Roosevelt, Utah, where the Harrisons had been visiting relatives.

On Monday, 15 air-patrol crews continued the search, with some concentrating on areas around Escalante in southeastern Utah and Monroe Peak south of Roosevelt, two locations suggested by a psychic from Seattle who was hired by family members.

But neither location yielded any sign of the missing family, said W.J. Barry, vice commander of the air patrol in Utah.

The Utah terrain is so rugged, Barry said, that even if searchers knew exactly where the Harrisons were, they would have trouble spotting them.

“This country out here it goes from real high alpine areas down to desert,” Barry said. “There’s nooks and crannies and deep canyons.”

He said the air patrol will continue its search unless the U.S. Air Force, which governs the volunteer agency, calls off the effort.

“I still work on the assumption that they’re still alive,” Barry said.