THOUSAND OAKS : Callers Respond to Show on Missing Man

An “Unsolved Mysteries” segment that aired Friday night about the baffling disappearance of a former bass player for the rock group Iron Butterfly prompted 123 calls to the popular television program.

Philip Taylor Kramer of Thousand Oaks, who most recently was an executive at a Thousand Oaks computer firm, vanished Feb. 12 during a trip to pick up a business partner at Los Angeles International Airport.

Neither he nor his green Ford van have been found.

The calls to “Unsolved Mysteries” reported possible sightings of Kramer or his van, said coordinating producer Tim Rogan.

Most of the calls, which were referred to Kathy Kramer, the missing man’s sister, and a private investigator, came from California, Arizona and Nebraska, Rogan said.

“Several [phone tips] look like possibilities,” Kathy Kramer said. “I am so hopeful but, at the same time, I am so sad because the holidays are here and I want to spend them together. I want to be hopeful but, at the same time, disappointment is so awful. I want to know if he’s alive.”

Kathy Kramer, a Newbury Park resident, said she has been marking potential leads on a map to determine if there’s a pattern.

Several viewers reported that a homeless man interviewed on a Nebraska local news show last week resembled the missing man, Kathy Kramer said.

A follow-up is scheduled to air on “Unsolved Mysteries” on Dec. 1.