Active search for missing teen at Castaic Lake called off
Authorities have called off an active search at Castaic Lake for Bryce Laspisa, the college student whose sport utility vehicle was found in the area after he was reported missing.
The decision, relayed to Laspisa’s family on Tuesday, caps weeks of searching on land, underwater and from the air.
Bryce’s friends set up a Facebook page dedicated to the search while relatives rallied around his parents and flew in from out of state. His father has been at Castaic Lake nearly every day to aid the search effort.
But with no results to show for it, authorities say they’re calling off the massive field operation and will instead rely on “routine patrols” and new leads.
“When you look at the lengths we’ve gone to find Bryce Laspisa, we feel terrible for the missing and we feel terrible for the family and friends,” said L.A. County sheriff’s Capt. Mike Parker. “It’s a tragedy he has not been found and the unknowns that go along with that. Frankly, it breaks our hearts too.”
Laspisa, 19, was traveling home from college to visit family in Laguna Niguel before disappearing Aug. 30. According to authorities, Laspisa had called his parents several hours before his SUV was discovered rolled over at about 5:30 a.m.
On Sept. 4, Lapisa’s relatives feared that a burned body spotted by a cyclist about three miles north of Lake Hughes Road was his.
But the Los Angeles County coroner said last week that it was the body of Lamondre Deon Miles, 35, who lived near South Los Angeles. Miles was shot multiple times in the torso in Hawthorne and was dead before his body was dumped and set on fire, according to the sheriff’s department.
Joanna Amezcua, 23, her brother Luis Amezcua, 22, have been charged with one count each of murder in Miles’ death.
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Twitter: @josephserna
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