A college sophomore student, Bryce Laspisa was the only child to parents Karen and Michael Laspisa. He was born on April 30, 1994, in Illinois, Springfield. It’s assumed his childhood was uneventful, and he was showered with love and support as an only child to his parents. Not long after he graduated from high school in 2012, his parents moved to Laguna Niguel, California. Bryce instead moved to Chico, which was 450 miles away, to attend Sierra College, where he started his sophomore year.
He chose to major in graphic and industrial design at Sierra College in Rocklin, and he did very well in school. During his sophomore year, he made a number of new friends and also started dating. Besides his balanced student life, he had a girlfriend he seemingly adored, a beautiful blond named Kim Sly.
Towards the end of the school year, he got back to his parents’ Home in Laguna Niguel, around 465 miles south of his college, where he spends half of his mid-year taking an English class at a nearby college, which gave him a kick-off on securing the credits he would have to get his degree.
The day before he vanished, Bryce Laspisa attended a speech class and a web design class that day, and he called his mother that night to tell her how much he liked them and how excited he was about his new semester. So it didn’t seem like there was anything her mother needed to be concerned about.
However, those who saw Bryce daily were concerned about him because he hadn’t been acting like himself. His behavior was growing increasingly erratic since his return to Rocklin two weeks earlier. After returning to Rocklin, he started drinking hard liquor daily, which eventually increased surety to his friend’s concerns because he has never done this before. But Bryce Laspisa continued to deny their concerns and wouldn’t admit that there was anything wrong with him.
Things started to unravel on August 27 because the events of that day are unclear, dumbfounding, and strange, to say the least. More than six years later, it is still a mystery what happened to Bryce Laspisa, a young man who had so much going for him and who had seemed so happy and focused just 24 hours earlier.
What Happened during the time Bryce Laspin Vanished?
Bryce’s girlfriend Kim knew that he has been overdosing on alcohol usual than ever. But this time, it seemed to be more than just alcohol. As understandably concerned as his girlfriend, she asked Bryce Laspisa what’s wrong with him, but as usual, he insisted that everything is fine. When Kim continued to force him to tell, he finally admitted that his addiction to drinking went too far, and he had taken the drug Vyvanse which is an ADHD pill that was not prescribed to him.
An amphetamine-based narcotic, Vyvanse is a strong intoxicant. Its side effects are similar to methamphetamine, providing an energy boost to the user allowing going without any sleep for an extended time.
That’s why it became a popular fun drug on many colleges at that time. Bryce’s roommate, Sean Dixon, claimed that he and Bryce Laspisa had been continuously taking the drug Vyvanse that would make them stay awake the whole night to play video games and that he had also been drinking hard alcohol throughout the day.
Kim’s obvious concerns for Bryce’s uncharacteristic behavior kept questioning her. Bryce Laspisa started to be frustrated with Kim for asking him and finally sent her a text message saying she would be better off without him. So it was clear that he was broke up with her.
After Ditching Kim, Bryce went to her apartment, and the reason is unknown
That night around 11 pm, Bryce himself called his mother from Kim’s apartment in Chico, despite dumping her the night before he had driven to her Home in Chico, about a 90-mile drive to insist Kim that he was okay. But anxiously worried about his unpredictable behavior, Kim took his car keys away from him and begged him to spend the night at her apartment and get some sleep before attempting to drive home.
But Bryce told her he wanted to leave and wanted his keys back. When Kim refused to give back his key, Bryce called his mother, complaining that Kim wouldn’t give his keys back and wouldn’t let him go home. After he insisted, Karen speaks to Kim and tells her to return Bryce’s car keys to him. Kim gave Bryce his car keys back, and he left her apartment around 11:30 pm.
Later on, there was a call from Bryce around 1 am, but Karen missed it, believing that he must have driven back to his apartment. He was calling to tell her he had made it safely to Home as the phone records would indicate that Bryce made the call when he was in a desolate area about an hour away from his apartment in Rocklin.
The Family Received Voicemail from Bryce Laspisa
The next morning, Karen received an automated message from their insurance confirming that roadside help was requested for one of their vehicles. Then they heard a voicemail from Bryce informing them that he had used their roadside assistance plan at 9 am after running out of gas in an area west of Bakersfield. It was a 350-mile trek.
These messages left Karen and Michael confused and anxious as they tried to call him, speculating if he had some car trouble on the drive home from Kim’s apartment last night. But their world turned upside down when they learn from Sean that he had never returned home the night before.
Karen and Michael kept calling Bryce, but the call went unanswered continuously. Michael called a repair shop that had responded to Bryce’s call for roadside assistance, and the employee named Christian answered their call, telling them that Bryce had gotten as far as the Buttonwillow Rest Area before running out of gas. He had delivered three gallons of gas to him around 9:30 am.
It has been more than three hours since the roadside assistance call, so Christian didn’t expect to see Bryce assuming that he must have likely continued to wherever he was going. He was surprised when he pulled into the rest area where he saw Bryce sitting in his car in the exact spot he had been in that morning. Also, Bryce seemed surprised to see Christian, even more so when Christian handed him his cell phone and told him his mother wanted to talk to him.
After talking to Bryce, Karen was relieved but still confused about the whole situation. But since he was some miles away from Laguna Niguel, Karen decided that the questioning could wait and he would be home in a matter of hours. She reminded Bryce to fill up his gas tank and said they would expect to see him at Home around 3:00 pm.
Karen and Michael Filed a Missing Report
Karen and Michael started to worry when Bryce didn’t get home by 3:30 pm—worried that Bryce may have been in a car accident or some problem. They called the police and reported him missing. The first thing police did was call Bryce’s cell phone provider and have them ping his phone to see if they could come up with his location.
Bryce was still in Buttonwillow after almost 10 hours after he had made the call to roadside assistance. When they knew about his current location, the two Kern County deputies were dispatched to check on him.
Bryce was anything, but he wasn’t a minor, and he hadn’t performed any crimes, so the police had no motivation to capture him. The officer told him that he needed to call his mother before they let him go. They were surprised when Bryce seemed hesitant to do so, even after saying that she had been anxious about him. Eventually, one of the officers took Bryce’s phone and called his mother Karen himself. He guaranteed her that he had passed their Sobriety field test and seemed to be fine.
They did not doubt him being on the road, which encouraged Karen. After a while, Karen spoke shortly with her son, telling him that he needed to eat something before he gets on the road again. He agreed to his mother. After talking to his mother, the deputies left, pleased that he was finally prepared to drive back home.
Bryce Didn’t Leave the Spot Where He Was Seen Parked
Regardless of his reassurances that he would leave shortly, Bryce was seen sitting in the same spot for few hours when Christian drove by. He immediately called Karen and informed her that Bryce was still parked and assured her that he would follow Bryce to the interstate to confirm he got it. Bryce soon realized that he wasn’t going to get away with lingering any longer. He bought a soda and informed Christian that he was starting to drive home.
Finally, Bryce left Buttonwillow and got on interstate 5 after driving for more than 13hours. Christian followed Bryce for about 10miles, and he noticed nothing unusual about Bryce’s driving. He called Karen to inform her that Bryce was at last on interstate 5 and was heading south in Laguna Niguel’s direction.
Bryce informed his mother that he had the departure of the interstate by 1:30 am. Bryce wasn’t sure about where he was, but according to the GPS that he was using, it was estimated that he would arrive at the house at 3:25 am. Around 2:09 am Bryce, called his parents to say that he was tired and exhausted from driving anymore, so he had decided to take a break and nap.
Karen and Michael were restless, knowing their son is out there in the middle of the night, but they still managed to get a little sleep. Karen and Michael were desperate to see their son. But when they heard the doorbell ring at 8 am, They woke up with hope and looked at each other in relief, but they had no idea that answering the doorbell ring could change their life forever.
Karen and Michael’s World Turned upside down again – They were informed about the wrecked car
They expected Bryce while opening the door but found a California Highway Patrol Officer standing outside their front door. The officer dropped a bombshell on Bryce’s parents as he told them that his car was found wrecked and abandoned on a floor access road leading to the Castaic Lake main boat ramp.
It had crashed down a 25-foot barrier before smashing onto the road below. There was no sign of Bryce, but all of his belongings were present in his car. In the past 12hours, Michael and Karen had to report their son missing for the second time.
The town of Castaic is located right off of Interstate 5, just 90 miles north of Laguna Nigel. All the cars were seen traveling on the interstate exit onto Lake Hughes Road, leading up a hill to the Castaic Lake Recreation Area. Every car traveling up this hill has to pass a surveillance camera that takes a photograph of every car’s license plate.
Bryce was seen driving past this camera just a few minutes after telling his mother that he was too tired to keep on driving, which was around 2:15 am.
Another shocker was when Bryce was seen again on this camera for a second time at 4:30 am. Unfortunately, there are no cameras tracking cars as they come down the hill, so there was no way of knowing how long Bryce stayed at the top of the hill when he was driving for the first time. Understanding what Bryce was doing and why he went up the hill for the second time was as tricky as nailing a jelly in a tree.
After Investigations Bryce’s Car Was Found Abandoned
It was hopeless to find the accident’s precise time, but the wrecked car was found less than an hour after Bryce’s car was seen heading up the hill for a second time. Officers were on duty before 5:30 am, and there was no sign of anyone near the car around that time. There were no witnesses to the crash. So the police had to try to piece together every puzzle about what had happened.
The Search Begun For Bryce
Once the police investigated all the evidence, they came to the surprising conclusion that what had taken place might not have been accidental. It looked like Bryce had been in absolute control of the car as it sped toward the ravine, and he continued to hit the accelerator the entire way down willingly.
The search parties immediately swarmed the area where Bryce’s car was found. The police kept searching, but there was no luck.
The search was officially called off
Friends, family, and volunteers posted fliers and hiked remote trails. Everyone was searching for Bryce Laspisa while the police went deep to scour the area from down to above. On the ninth day of the search, police utilized the help of bloodhounds, which successfully tracked Bryce’s scent from the vehicle to a roadway that crosses a dam all the way out to a truck stop.
Disappointingly, that’s where the clues ended with no new leads and no sign of Bryce. The search was officially called off after three weeks, though volunteers continued to donate their time to look for Bryce, and police continued to carry out patrols of the area.
Bryce never made it to Home
There may never be a conclusion to what happened to Bryce. Some people are contemplating Bryce’s vanishing as suicide either some named it as murdered. It’s been eight years till now he has been missing, no one knows, and no one could find what happened to Bryce Laspisa. There has not been any confirmed sighting of him found anywhere since his vanishing. Nonetheless, it seems likely that he is no longer alive. But Karen and Michael never stopped their search for their only son, and we hope one day know what happened to him.