California

‘God Forbid, He Plunged 2,000 Feet': Friend Fears For LA Man Missing on Seattle Road Trip

Hollywood resident Leroy Chilton has not been heard from since he embarked on his trip up the Pacific Coast Highway in Santa Monica on June 15

A man fears his best friend may have died on a road trip to Seattle after he failed to show up at an acquaintance's house or get in touch for two weeks.

Hollywood resident Leroy Chilton has not been heard from since he embarked on his trip up Pacific Coast Highway in Santa Monica on June 15, and his close friend is extremely worried. Joe Buissink is hoping his 64-year-old best friend, whom he met in elementary school, did not crash off the winding Route 1 in northern California.

"I'm very scared and I'm just hoping, because looking at the topographical maps, elevation is 200 to 2,000," Buissink said. "God forbid he plunged 2,000 feet, and then I'm looking for something on the rocks in the ocean."

Chilton left the area in his Honda sports car, and was supposed to arrive at his friend's home near Seattle June 20. A missing persons report was filed the day after, however there are still no solid details on his whereabouts, though it has emerged he last used his credit card at a motel in Fort Bragg on June 17. 

Buissink has been in touch with the Los Angeles Police Department as well as law enforcement in Washington State. He is waiting to hear if the California Highway Patrol did a flyover of the Fort Bragg area last Friday.

One possible method of tracking would have been a smartphone, however Chilton had resisted getting one, insisting he would never need it.

"For the last three or fours years, I've tried to convince him, I'm begging him to please get a cellphone," Buissink said. "He said, 'What's the point?' I said, 'emergencies,' he said 'I don't have emergencies.'"

Buissink is getting ready to fly up to northern California Thursday, where he plans on renting a search and recovery helicopter to find his friend.

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