Police in Hermosa Bbeach, California, are searching for a missing Air Force veteran, Michael David Vanzandt, who disappeared while out with friends last Saturday night.
Vanzandt, 36, is a former security forces airman who now works at Edwards Air Force Bbase. He was last seen leaving Hermosa Beach's waterfront Pier Plaza area Saturday, March 5, with an unidentified group of people, his brother, Tyler Vanzandt, told Air Force Times.
Vanzandt was last seen on a city security camera heading east, away from the waterfront, around 11:30 pm accompanied by an unidentified group.
"We're trying to locate those people who might have been with him," Tyler Vanzandt said. "No one's come forward to say something. That's the biggest help we could get if one of those people would come forward. It would let us get some idea of what he was doing."
The Hermosa Beach police are currently investigating.
"It's not necessarily suspicious circumstances, like foul play, but the fact that he's been gone so long," police Sgt. Robert Higgins told the Los Angeles Times. "He is a father, and obviously it's concerning for him to disappear for this much time."
Vanzandt is a the father of three, his brother said. He is also a swimmer and scuba diver, according to ABC 7. Tyler Vanzandt reportedly told ABC that his brother is "somebody that does like to take swims at night, you know, after he’s been drinking." and enjoys swimming at night, particularly when he is intoxicated. No one, however, has reported seeing Vanzandt go into the water.
According to a missing person advisory, pPolice described Vanzandt as a 6-foot-tall white male, who weighs 190 pounds lbs., and has with blond hair and blue eyes. He has three known tattoos: a tiger in the jungle on his left bicep, a small Buddha on his back and the word "KEATON" in descending letters on his left calf. He was last seen wearing a plain gray sweater.
Vanzandt was out with a group of friends waiting to get into the bar American Junkie. He left the group about 10:15 pm to go to a near-by liquor store. Tyler Vanzandt said security cameras showed his brother purchase something from the store, then wander around the area for a bit, before meeting up with the group of unidentified people and walking off into the neighborhoods surrounding the pier area.
Phone records show that Vanzandt's phone died at 10:30, and has been no use in the search, Tyler Vanzandt said.
Vanzandt lives in Lancaster, Calif., and was in the area for a weekend trip, his brother said. His car was left at the hotel he was staying at, and had not been touched when police found it.
Tyler Vanzandt has posted a flier on his Facebook page, and the family has launched a GoFundMe page to raise funds for more family members to go to California to join the search.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Hermosa Beach Police Detective Joshua Droz at 310-318-0334 or e-mail him at jdroz@hermosapolice.org.
