Every Town - Baffling Disappearance Of Bryce Laspisa - Castaic, CA

Episode Date: July 29, 2022

“Not knowing the location of my son is worse than him being dead.” This is the heartbreaking lamentation of Bryce Laspisa’s mother Karen who has endured the disappearance of her son since August 2013.--------------------------------------------💀 Exclusive Video Content & Access: https://www.patreon.com/scarymysteries 🥇 Watch This Episode on Youtube!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HxjZOQgP_w&ab_channel=ScaryMysteries--------------------------------------------🎧 Scary Mysteries PodcastApple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/scary-mysteries/id1273612861Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3ZooEZMoZ421WdsOVJhVkTAll Others: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1235579 Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you love true crime, grab your favorite mug and pour yourself a dose of creepy true crime every single morning with morning cup of murder. This short daily show is the perfect podcast to incorporate into your morning routine, because in less than 15 minutes, you'll hear about a true crime that took place on a day's date in history. Each day's dark history lesson will kickstart your morning with intriguing tales of murder, abduction, serial killers, cults, and everything in between. With over 20 million downloads, Morning Cup of Murder has something for every true crime lover. One listener describes the show as a small package with a powerful punch of crime.

Another writes that the show is an absolute delight in the morning. Support yourself a piping hot cup of murder every single morning with Morning Cup of Murder. Find it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Every town has a dark side. The circumstances surrounding the vanishing of college sophomore Bryce Las Pisa on August 30th, 2013, has to this day remained a mystery. At the time, 19-year-old Bryce had planned to visit his parents in California, but what should have been a five-hour journey is turned into a nine-year ordeal and frustratingly unsolved case for his loved ones. Was he kidnapped? Is he still alive? Perhaps he ran away and didn't want to be located or was he murdered?

I'm Andrew Fitzgerald and welcome to another episode of Everytown. If you guys want to watch this podcast as a video, then please go check out our YouTube channel called Scary Mysteries. But for now, let's head to Casta, California, where we dive into the details surrounding Bryce's case and perhaps, together, we can get a bit closer to helping solve it. Michael and Karen Las Pisa originally settled in Chicago, Illinois, where they started building a family upon the birth of their only child,

Bryce David, on April 30, 1994. They raised their son in the suburbs of Chicago, where Bryce completed his high school education and graduated from Naperville Central High School in 2012. As a sole child in the family, Bryce was shower with love and support. He grew up as a charismatic boy who could light up a room with his presence. Naturally gregarious with a happy disposition. Bryce made many friends who could attest to him being incredibly funny.

He often invited them to his house to hang out. As for his interests, Bryce had a strong inclination for the art as he loved to draw and build. When his parents retired, the family then moved to Laguna Nogul, a predominantly residential city in the southeastern corner of Orange County in California. Bryce opted to move some 450 miles away to Chico, the most populous city in Boone County, California. He chose there because it was close to Sierra College in Rockland City, and at the public community college, Bryce took up courses in industrial and graphic design,

which enabled him to develop an extensive portfolio that showcased his artwork. He wanted to earn credit in the hopes of transferring to a four-year university. During his college freshman year, Bryce met his girlfriend, Kim Sly. He showered her with love and respect, and everyone could tell that life was going well for him. He had a loving and supportive family and girlfriend and did well in school the previous year. but as he entered his sophomore year in August of 2013, things took a different turn toward an undesirable direction. Inevitably, the Las Pisa family's world was turned upside down as well.

When his second year at Sierra College began on the third week of August in 2013, Bryce was a 19-year-old young man who stood five feet, 11 inches tall, weighing in at around 170 pounds. He was easily recognizable with his blue eyes and short, bright red hair and ear piercings. But what distinguished Bryce were the adornments on his left shoulder, a tattoo of a torres bullhead, and another one bearing his birthday in Roman numerals. Good things marked August 26, 2013. The day Bryce's college sophomore year commenced.

He had a phone conversation with his mom who said that her son was bruce. brimming with happiness. But unbeknownst to Karen, Bryce had been dabbling and a bit of booze and drugs with his friends two weeks prior. It seems unsurprising for teens their age to engage or experiment on such thrill-seeking things. However, they had an overwhelming and profound effect on Bryce, a young man with so much going on for him and known to be happy and focused, but who suddenly now exhibited strange behavior. The changes in Bryce's character started to unravel on August 27th, a day after the new semester started. At that time, the possible closest person who was most familiar with the activities

and behavior of Bryce was his 20-year-old blonde girlfriend Kim. She became concerned after observing Bryce acting peculiar and contrary to his natural self. He had become too generous, giving away some of his belongings to his friends, such as his gaming console and a pair of diamond earrings his mom had given him. On top of this, he admitted to Kim that he had taken an unprescribed pill for ADHD. Bryce's roommate, Sean Dixon, confirmed that Bryce had taken the drug by Vance to keep him awake while playing video games all night. Moreover, Kim learned that her boyfriend had also been drinking hard alcohol throughout the day. and downing hard liquor every weekend.

As if this disturbing behavior of Bryce's wasn't enough, Kim got the shock of her life when her boyfriend initiated a breakup through text later that night, telling her she would be better off without him. By August 28th, Bryce's friends and Kim became deeply concerned about his condition, and Sean decided to contact Mrs. Laspesa in order to fill her in on what was happening with her son. He told her about his odd behavior and his unexpected decision

to call it quits with Kim. Sean also disclosed that Bryce had indicated that something was troubling him, but he didn't go into all the details. According to Sean, his friend's behavior had shifted after they had spent a night playing video games while taking an ADHD drug to stay awake.

Two hours after Karen had talked with Sean. She then received a call from Bryce himself, who was at Kim's place despite breaking up with her the previous night. He had driven 90 miles to her home in Chico from his apartment. Bryce insisted that he was well, but Kim was telling Karen that he wasn't acting like his usual self. Kim also worried about Bryce driving home in his condition. Naturally, Karen became more concerned of her son's well-being, so she offered to come see him the next day. But he reassured his mom that there was no need for a visit, although he expressed wanting to talk to her without saying his specific concerns. By 11.30 p.m., Bryce had then left his ex-girlfriend's house in Chico, and his visit to Kim that night was the last time they'd ever spend time together.

His loved ones assumed that Bryce had driven back to his apartment after he had departed Kim's house before midnight on August 28, 2013. Kim had been worried sick since he left her house, and she said, I've thought about every possible scenario, about where he could be, and what could have happened to him. The foam at the Las Pisa home, and Laguna and Aguil rang at around 1 a.m. on August 29th. But Karen missed that call and didn't think much about it. She thought that her son had reached his apartment and just wanted to tell them. But during the investigation of Bryce's disappearance later, His phone records indicated that he made the call when he was in a desolate area

about an hour away from his Rockland apartment. He was heading south, past Sierra College and towards the mountains. And later, in the mid-morning, the Lasbisa couple were notified by their auto insurance provider that Bryce's car needed roadside assistance after running out of gas and Buttonwillow. A location known for being a truck stop off Interstate 5, just a few hours from Laguna Nagal. His parents kept calling him, but Bryce never answered. And a very alarmed Karen then contact her son's roommate Sean,

who informed her that Bryce never returned home the night before. Perhaps to appease themselves, Michael and Karen, assumed that their son was on his way to their house. And if so, he was expected to arrive after around three hours. The charges and the couple's credit card were soon traced, Castro Tyron Truck, a repair shop near the freeway. Michael contacted the company and learned from its employee named Christian that he delivered three gallons of gas worth $20 to Bryce while he was waiting in his car. Christian sensed the concern in Karen's voice, so he offered a check if Bryce

was still in the area. Luckily, he found Bryce, so the gas attendant called Karen back and told her that he seemed okay, although his eyes seemed red. By 12.30 p.m., Karen finally got to speak with Bryce through Christian's phone. Once again, the son assured his mother that everything was okay. Karen then told Bryce to start driving and that they would see each other at around 3 p.m. But at half past three, not even a fraction of Bryce's shadow reached Laguna Nagal. Karen kept contacting her son for the next six hours, but he didn't respond. and inexplicably ignored her calls. Thus, the Las Pesica couple decided to file a missing persons report with the Orange County Sheriff's Department at around 6 p.m. on August 29th.

Authorities immediately pinged Bryce's cell phone upon receiving the report, and they discovered he was still in Buttonwillow. Surprisingly, he had only traveled eight miles from Castro tire truck where he purchased that gas, which would be just about eight miles over the course of nine hours. anxiety and fear enveloped the parents so at 9 p.m. They contacted the California Highway Patrol to search for their son. When authorities finally located the boy at Lagoon Drive, still in Button Willow near the interstate, deputies performed a sobriety test and searched his car. The result was favorable for Bryce, and there was no trace or evidence of alcohol or drugs,

and he was acting normal, nice, talkative, and alert. police asked him what he was doing and the teenager explained that he was blowing off some steam. For the lawman, Bryce deliberately delayed traveling to his parents' house and took time to regain his focus before seeing his folks. So it seems like everything was okay. The 19-year-old college sophomore was already considered an adult of legal age when police found him after his parents filed for a missing person's report on August 29, 2013. He was neither intoxicated nor under the influence of drugs so police couldn't do much except to advise him to contact his parents and then continued driving to their home.

But he was highly reluctant to call up his mother, so the authorities dialed the number for him and he was able to speak to his mother at 10 p.m. When Karen asked her son what he was doing, he replied that he planned to hang out with his friends. Still concerned, Karen then asked police if they thought it was okay for him. for her son to drive. They were very confident that he was and left Bryce to make his own way home. At 11 p.m., Bryce purchased a drink for $1.71 from a convenience store, still in Buttonwillow.

He told his mother he was on Interstate 5 South, but wouldn't disclose any other details. He reportedly stopped at a Valero gas station and purchased $39 worth of gas. He'd been in Button Willow now, approximately 13 hours with no real explanation as to why. When Bryce still hadn't come home, Karen frantically called up again Christian at the auto repair shop. He again offered to check on Bryce and found him where he last saw him earlier that day.

Christian volunteered to follow Bryce until he made it onto the freeway. And approximately 30 minutes later, Bryce was back on the road driving toward Laguna Nigal. Michael and Karen kept in contact with their son over the phone over the next two hours. They would ask him to name any landmarks and street signs he was passing in order to gauge how long it would take for him to arrive. However, Bryce was unenthusiastic to do this, saying he didn't see any. Now, at 209 a.m. on August 30th, Bryce called Karen and told her he had gotten off the I-5 again and was pulling over for the night because he was too exas.

exhausted to continue driving. At that point, Bryce had been awake for almost 48 hours, so Karen didn't argue with his decision to get some sleep, and he promised to call her when he woke up. But this was the last conversation between the distressed mother and her only son. That promise never happened. Live for the Las Pisa family swiftly shifted from bad to worse three hours later. At approximately 5.30 a.m. on August 30th, a 2003-Bage Toyota Highlander SUV was found abandoned at the bottom of a 15-foot ravine off Lake Hughes Road near Castic Lake, a reservoir formed by the Casteague Dam on Castic Creek in the Sierra Polona Mountains in Los Angeles County. It was the car, Rice had driven, but how did he end up there? Later

Their investigations revealed that he didn't pull over to get some shut-eye, as what he told his mom. Instead, he continued driving toward Castaic Lake for more than an hour. At 8 a.m., a California Highway Patrol officer paid a visit to the Las Pisa couple, asking if they own the Toyota Highlander found in the ravine just two hours earlier. When they gave an affirmative answer, adding that it was their son behind the wheel, the patrol officer then informed them that the vehicle had crashed. The discovery of Bryce's car, but without the college teen in it, was now shrouded in mystery. The car's back window had been broken from the inside, which police assumed was Bryce's way of escaping out when the vehicle crashed.

Found inside the car were some of his valuables like his laptop and phone, while his wallet and duffel bag were located outside near the rear window. The bag was unzipped and investigators thought Bryce took something from it when he broke out of the window to escape. escape. His blood was also discovered on the passenger's headrest and on the back seat, but it wasn't enough indication that he had sustained serious injuries. During the preliminary investigation of the scene, investigators suggested that Bryce drove off the service road into a rest area before dawn along a cell tower and toward the lake accelerating as he did so. It also appeared as though Bryce believed the lake was a lot closer to the cell tower than it actually was as the area creates an optical illusion of sorts.

Bryce's intriguing movements were all captured on CCTV that recorded his whereabouts between the time he left Button Willow and 3 a.m. One camera showed him driving along Lake Hughes Road near Castiac Lake at 2.15 a.m. Just minutes after he'd last spoken with his mother. That same camera captured him driving up the road once again at 4.29 a.m. Tire tracks were visible at the top of the time. of the embankment leading down the bank towards the Castaic Lake. Based on the track pattern, investigators surmised that Bryce descended the embankment at a

fairly high rate of speed without an effort to use the brakes. Given the scene, investigators believe Bryce deliberately drove into the lake, which led them to allege that he'd been suicidal at the time of the accident. One month earlier, it was unfathomable that it would cross Bryce's mind to take his own life. Then why did this happen? As mentioned, the change in his behavior was noticed by his friends and ex-girlfriend Kim in mid-August, two weeks prior to the start of his sophomore year in college. He gave away his belongings, including a pair of diamond earrings. His parents didn't understand his actions, but police believed Bryce was going through a crisis, which was most likely rooted from his

heavy drinking and drug use. The side effects could have been too much for him to hand. handled, so much so that it prodded him to run away and commit suicide. On the same night that Bryce left, he texted his roommate Sean this message. I love you, bro, seriously. You're the best person I've ever met, and you save my soul. Mike and Karen, however, disputed this. They said that Bryce may have experimented, but he hadn't been struggling with substance abuse and was in fact in a fine state during the summer. Then this tragedy struck, and Bryce his car was recovered, but where was he? A large-scale search was conducted in a joint effort

with hundreds of deputies and volunteers, as well as search and rescue crews, cadaver dogs, and divers. They searched the hills, lake, and shoreline by foot, ATV, and helicopter, but their weekend's long search brought up no evidence. No witnesses reported seeing Bryce in the Santa Clarita Valley around the time of the incident.

During the initial days of his disappearance, Bryce's parents received numerous tips and possible sightings from across Western America, but they were all false alarms. In order to intensify the search, Mike made flyers while Karen faced the media. Sadly, though, their efforts didn't produce viable leads. When asked about his mindset before his disappearance, the couple said that he sounded lucid whenever they spoke with him. They felt Bryce wouldn't have walked away from the accident willingly since he wasn't into hitchhiking or outdoor activities. Besides the fact, he was unfamiliar with the Castiac Lake area where a billboard was erected after his disappearance with his image and personal information. Five days after the boy had vanished, a jogger reported 911 about a brush fire, three miles from where Bryce's car had crashed. The burnt body, which first responders discovered, was initially.

initially believed to be Bryce's, but forensic testing proved it to be a Los Angeles man who have been the victim of a homicide. The search continued and on September 8th, bloodhounds were used to track his scent, hoping to locate him. They caught his scent and followed it to a dam on the lake, trailed it across the dam and down south towards the west side of that lake. It then went toward the truck stop area on Castic Road. Investigators theorized that Bryce had chosen to to walk away from the accident and his life, possibly hitchhiked and just disappeared. There was no evidence of foul play or suicide, and investigators believed that if he had committed suicide,

they would have found him in the lake. Not wanting the case to turn cold in 2015, his parents hired private investigator, Denise Savastano, who specializes in missing persons cases, who offered her services pro bono. Based on the coordinates plugged in to Bryce's GPS, she believed the red-haired teenager wanted to go home. Then she came up with two speculations.

Bryce could have suffered a head injury when his car crashed, leaving him disoriented, or he could have suffered a psychotic break as a result of his drug use resulting in his erratic behavior. In August of 2015, Sevastano and the Las Pisa family hired a sonar specialist. specialist to search Castaic Lake, using sound waves to generate images from the bottom of it. They believe that if Bryce indeed committed suicide, he would have entered the deep water at Government Cove. However, the search didn't yield any new evidence. The family has offered a $5,000 reward for information about his whereabouts.

As the last person, Bryce kept in touch with before he went missing, his mother, Karen, is undoubtedly the most affected. but she's still quite optimistic and said, We just hope somebody can find him somewhere out there and he can come home to us. Thanks so much for tuning in, and if you want even more creepy stories from us, then check out our YouTube channel and podcast called Scary Mysteries.

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plus the chance to get involved with ideas and picking the videos that we post each week. So head on over there to get involved, and I'll see you soon. So that's it, guys, for this week's episode of Everytown. Tune in next week for another episode filled with scary, strange, and mysterious stories. Because who knows? Maybe your town will be next.