Palmdale Motorcyclist Missing

A man due to return home from his San Fernando Valley area job Friday afternoon had not arrived by Sunday evening and was feared to be the victim of an accident.

Donald M. Mandy, 48, called his wife at 3:30 Friday afternoon to say he was heading home to Palmdale and that he would drive his 1994 Honda motorcycle along Angeles Crest Highway to get there.

Mandy never arrived, said Sgt. Patrick Hunter of the Antelope Valley Sheriff’s Station.

Deputies searched the roads and canyons along the crest for several hours Sunday afternoon, and two helicopters checked the area from above for any trace of Mandy or his blue motorcycle, which has license plate number DONSR71, Hunter said.

“With a motorcycle, where it goes off the road it might go right through a bush and not leave a trace,” Hunter said. “When a car goes off the road, you generally can tell. A motorcycle is much smaller and lighter and there’s not [always] a lot of physical evidence.”

Mandy is a bus driver for the Los Angeles Unified School District, Hunter said. He left for work early Friday morning.

Hunter said a civilian search group with which Mandy is involved also aided in the search.

Mandy is 5 feet, 9 inches tall, 160 pounds, with short brown hair and blue eyes. He was last seen wearing blue pants and a black jacket.

Hunter said the search will resume today.