Volunteers Search for Missing Man

Nearly 200 adults and children -- including many Boy Scouts -- trudged up hiking trails, combed dense brush and motored across rural roadways in all-terrain vehicles this weekend searching for a missing Agoura Hills man.

Timothy Verne Perryman, 53, was last seen by a neighbor on the afternoon of March 28, walking away from his house.

His wife and two sons said that Perryman, who had been laid off from his job as a financial analyst 16 months ago and seemed depressed, might have gone out for a stroll, to relax and clear his mind, but instead got disoriented or injured.

They have received reports of possible sightings, but none have panned out.

“It’s like a roller-coaster ride. You get a lead and you’re hopeful, and your hopes are dashed,” said his wife, Pamela.

Perryman, who served as a Boy Scout leader for 18 years, is well-versed in wilderness survival skills.

But he also suffers from chronic heart and kidney problems. He has been without medication for a week, his family said.

Before he walked away, he apparently took his driver’s license with him but removed other items from his wallet. He left on his desk six dollar bills, some coins, credit cards, his Social Security card and family photos.

“He’s a very methodical man who thinks things through clearly before doing them.... It’s pretty scary,” said Perryman’s son, Steve.

Timothy Perryman, described as 5 feet 9 and weighing 185 pounds, was wearing a light blue-and-white striped, long-sleeved dress shirt and jeans.

In the last few days, troops of uniformed Scouts poured through nearby mountains. Neighbors, friends and other volunteers distributed 4,500 fliers. They fanned out from the rolling hills of the western San Fernando Valley to the coast.

“It’s an extremely rough terrain. We’re dealing with a lot of cliffy areas, a lot of canyons, and we don’t have a lot of leads,” said Greg Fry, spokeswoman for the California Emergency Mobile Patrol, a volunteer division of the Los Angeles Police Department. “It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack.”

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Anyone with information on Perryman’s whereabouts should call the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department at (323) 890-5500.