Bryce Laspisa was always known as a lively, charismatic young boy who was adored by everyone who knew him. He was born on April 30, 1994 to his loving parents Michael and Karen and spent his entire life in a small town in Illinois before he parents chose to move their family to Laguna Niguel, California in 2013. Upon moving, Bryce chose to attend Sierra College which was about 7 hours away from his parents’ house in Rocklin, California.
At college, Bryce lived with his roommate Sean Dixon and was dating a girl named Kim Sly who lived nearby. Aside from his parents, Sean and Kim could easily be described as the two closest people to him. In the weeks leading up to the beginning of the semester, Bryce was excited about going back and enthusiastic about starting classes again according to his family. However, in the days following the beginning of the semester, his friends began to notice weird behavior from Bryce that they had never seen before. He admitted to taking medication for ADHD at the time that was not prescribed to him by a doctor and even was staying up playing video games for many hours (possibly leading to sleep deprivation among other things.) His friends also claimed that he had been drinking excessively in the weeks leading up to him behaving like this. His friends and girlfriend began to get worried about Bryce when he started to give away some of his most important possessions, including his gaming system, to others.
This story starts to get really weird and confusing starting on August 28, 2013. On this night Bryce texted Kim that she “would be better off without him,” and showed up to her house seemingly upset and anxious. Kim noticed his unusual behavior and attempted to take his keys away from him to prevent him from driving. Because of this, Bryce called his mother asking her to intervene. Kim also called his mother to explain the situation and why she felt the need to take the keys and not let him leave. His mother offered to fly out to him as soon as possible and he declined telling her he had “a lot to talk to her about.” His parents believed he was well enough to drive and requested Kim give his keys back so that he could leave. Bryce called his mother around 1 A.M; a call that she missed, but assumed he was calling to let her know he was home. However, cell phone records that were later found would show that Bryce was actually about an hour from his dorm heading southeast.
The next morning the Laspisa’s received a phone call from their car insurance letting them know their roadside assistance had been used at around 9 A.M. Bryce had run out of gas in Buttonwillow, California which was about 350 miles away from his school in Chico. Buttonwillow was actually about halfway between his parents’ home and school, so his parents assumed he was traveling home. Christian, a man who worked at a gas company, had reported that he had delivered gas to Bryce that morning. After multiple failed attempts to reach Bryce hours after he got gas, his parents called the gas company that delivered the gas and spoke to Christian who informed them that Bryce was still sitting in his car in the same place Christian last saw him after delivering gas. Christian told his parents that he seemed fine and allowed the Laspisa’s to use his phone to speak to Bryce who told them he was fine and on his way home.
Hours passed and Bryce still hadn’t arrived home and when his parents tracked his phone they realized he had only traveled 8 miles in 9 hours. At this point they contacted the California Highway Patrol and asked them for assistance. The officers located Bryce, checked his car and did a sobriety test and determined he was fine. They made him phone his parents even though he seemed reluctant, and they believed he was truly traveling home this time. Hours kept passing and according to purchase records and phone tracking, Bryce was still in Buttonwillow. According to GPS he was due to arrive at home at 3:25 A.M, but he never did.
At 2:09 A.M Bryce called his mother to let her know he had pulled over and was planning to get some sleep in his car before continuing his journey home. However, Bryce never did pull over and instead continued driving to Castaic Lake. A camera located on a road leading toward the lake revealed Bryce’s car made 3 separate trips to this location before his car was found overturned. At 2:15 A.M he was first seen driving up the road, then again at 4:29 A.M. His car was found at 5:15 A.M. The car had fallen into an embankment and was laid on its side with the back window broken from the inside. Bryce’s personal items, including his phone and laptop were located in the car. There were small amounts of blood located on the passenger side, but no evidence of serious injury. The tire patterns also showed a high speed with no attempt to use the brakes, leading investigators to believe Bryce had attempted to take his own life.
In the days following the crash massive searches were conducted by police forces and search parties alike. They searched surrounding areas but found no remains or traces of Bryce. Dogs were used to track his scent to a truck stop nearby, but ends there. The official search was called off after weeks of finding nothing, but Bryce’s family refuses to give up. To this day Bryce is still missing, but his parents do not believe his disappearance is voluntary. They believe he may have suffered a head injury in the crash that caused him to forget who he is or where he belongs. There is a Facebook group dedicated to finding Bryce named “FIND BRYCE LASPISA.” Bryce is a white male with reddish hair and blue eyes. He stands at about 5 feet 10 inches and was about 160 pounds at the time of his disappearance. He has a tattoo of a Taurus bullhead and his birthday written in Roman numerals on his upper left arm. If you think you may have any information, Bryce’s family asks that you email @findbrycelaspisa@gmail.com or call the tip line at 949-292-4400.
Pictured Below (Left to Right): Photo of Bryce Laspisa before dissapearence: https://signalscv.com/2017/07/remains-found-near-templin-not-bryce-laspisa/. Bryce pictured with girlfriend Kim Sly: http://armchairdetective.org/tadp-ep-26-true-crime-bryce-laspisa-missing/. Bryce's upper arm tattoo: https://patch.com/california/lagunaniguel-danapoint/police-search-ends-laspisa-family-solicits-donations-to-find-lost-son.
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