Los Angeles

Deputies Search Remote Desert Area for Missing Man

A search and rescue team on all-terrain vehicles was combing a remote desert area north of Los Angeles where a car belonging to a missing man was found abandoned off road Wednesday.

Nikolaos Christidis, a 76-year-old Oceanside resident who may suffer from dementia, was reported missing on July 22, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. His 2015 Honda Civic was discovered locked and stuck in soft sand near 155th Street East and Avenue H-6 in Lake Los Angeles, a desert town just east of Palmdale.

The car was found about 10 a.m. in an area covered in sand dunes. Deputies on the ground, backed by searchers in a helicopter, fanned out across the desert in search of Christidis, but he had not been found as of Wednesday night.

Police say Christidis has gotten lost in the past, and on one occassion ended up in Arizona.

Christidis, who is of Greek descent, is described as 5 feet 7 inches, weighing 175 pounds. He has gray hair and brown eyes.

Anyone with information was asked to call Oceanside police Lt. Aaron Doyle at 760-435-4694.

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