Photographer Helps Find Lost Boy, 9

Police on Wednesday launched a massive search for a 9-year-old Los Angeles boy thought to be missing in the “Hobo Jungle” area of the Ventura River. But the boy was discovered in a nearby surf shop shortly afterward by a Times photographer.

Four mounted Ventura County sheriff’s deputies, a K-9 unit, a sheriff’s helicopter unit, state park rangers and lifeguards joined Ventura police looking for Jafar Vassar, who had become separated from family friends during a camping trip.

Authorities began searching about 12:53 p.m. after receiving a report that the boy was missing near Hobo Jungle, an area that is home to many transients. He had been missing about an hour.

Police set up a command center near Surfers Point and began searching the area’s dense underbrush. About two hours after the boy had been declared missing, photographer Spencer Weiner spotted a boy matching Jafar’s description at a surf shop on nearby Thompson Boulevard.

Weiner, who was covering the search, asked the boy if he was lost. The boy apparently wandered from his party.