Missing man being sought by loved ones
As the search continues for an Orange County teenager whose abandoned car was found in Castaic three years ago when he went missing, a quest to find a Northern California man who vanished in the same area is underway.
Twenty-year-old Luis Prado of Salinas disappeared July 29 in Castaic near Templin Highway and Interstate 5 after traveling with two friends to Six Flags Magic Mountain, family members told The Signal Friday.
On their way home, their vehicle’s tire flattened and required a change, prompting them to pull to the side of a roadway in the Castaic area, said Isabel Batres, Prado’s aunt.
The woman was told by the friends that Prado walked away as they changed the damaged tire, an account
corroborated by missing persons records.
The friends then left the man behind and returned to northern California, Batres said.
A report was filed with the Salinas Police Department on July 30.
“Right now we’re treating it as a voluntary missing adult,” said Det. Michael Rivera of the Salinas Police Department.
As of Monday afternoon, no foul play was suspected in the man’s disappearance.
“(Prado) was with friends according
to the family,” Rivera said. “They had limited information on who he was with and who he ran away from.”
Because the missing man is from Salinas, procedure places the city’s police agency — located some 260 miles north of Castaic — in charge of the investigation, Rivera said.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department would only be involved if a request for assistance was made by Salinas Police investigators, he said.
One month after Prado vanished, Rivera said no request for assistance in searching for the man had been made.
“Normally, we’ll send them a ‘be on the lookout’ (notice) for the individual,” the detective said. “If the person is located in their jurisdiction, they would advise us.”
Rivera said he does not expect for the search to intensify, “unless (Los Angeles) County discovers something suspicious or odd.”
“If they make contact with someone that says he is not missing and is fact deceased, it would have to be something of that nature for it to escalate,” he said.
Prado is described by the Department of Justice as a 5-foot-9-inch Hispanic male with green eyes and black hair. He is about 140 pounds.
The Salinas man was last seen wearing a gray plaid sweatshirt and dark jeans and has a tattoo on his left forearm of a cross with the name “Jesus.”
Anyone with information regarding Prado’s whereabouts is encouraged to contact local law enforcement or the Salinas Police Department at (831) 775-4240.