Post by hi224 on Jun 2, 2019 3:02:14 GMT
Michael David VanZandt disappeared on March 5th 2016 in Hermosa Beach, California, his story featured on the latest season of Discovery Channels 'Disappeared' show and while his family seem to have all reached a very simple but tragic conclusion I felt it was worth discussing here as a search on the subreddit shows few recent posts about this case.
Michael VanZandt:
At age 36 Michael VanZandt was living in Lancaster, California, he worked a civilian job for the U.S. Air Force after he had served for 12 years including 2 tours in Iraq. He has 3 children with his wife who he was in the process of divorcing at the time and was considered a very outgoing and personable individual that friends and work colleagues described as instantly both charming and engaging.
The Disappearance:
On March 5th 2016 it was a wet and rainy Saturday evening when VanZandt met friends at a bar called 'The Underground' in Hermosa. They were there to watch a televised UFC fight night and while there he was recorded on video by friends which shows him in an apparent good mood enjoying the night.
The evening had been planned out and Michael with several friends had got rooms at a motel called the Quality Inn in the 900 block of Aviation Boulevard nearby to spend the night after the UFC coverage was over.
Pier Plaza on Hermosa Beach is one of the most popular locations in the area and has a great night-life. Michael's brother Tyler has stated that he was familiar with the area having partied with friends there in the past.
Vanzandt was last seen by his friends at the American Junkie gastro pub, Vanzandt and his friends were waiting to get into American Junkie at 10:15 p.m. when they claim he told them he needed the bathroom and walked to the liquor store next door, he is seen on multiple cctv recordings at this time both in and outside the liquor store and then he walked back out.
After exiting the liquor store, Michael then walks away and around the corner of the store rather then back to his friends who are still in the queue, it is during this time they said they decided to try a different and less crowded bar and walked away. Just after they leave the queue and walk out of cctv shot, Michael returns from around the corner and can be seen looking for them in the queue before walking away.
For the next couple hours, Michael is seen on cameras meandering about Pier Plaza looking in bars for his friends, police later identified several times that he came close to them or passed them and even one shot in which the group walk past with Michael only several feet behind but seemingly both parties were unaware of each other. He then returns to Roberts Liquor Store where he purchased something to drink. The liquor store captured the dollar amount, but not what he bought, according to his brother Tyler though the Disappeared episode stated it was a bottle of whiskey.
The entire time his friends had been texting and calling him, different sources say at least 20 times but without any contact being established with Michael, in the Liquor store cctv the police believe they can see Michael's phone is dead when he checks it, possibly explaining the lack of contact.
Surveillance cameras showed him walking into the parking lot, towards the beach, at 11:30 p.m. He never went back to the hotel room and his friends were unable to reach him by cellular phone that night or the next day; he has never been heard from again. He left behind his car and personal belongings.
The Investigation:
On Sunday morning of March 6, Mike didn’t return to the hotel. His car was still parked in the same spot. His worried friends called jails and hospitals expecting him to have likely gotten drunk.
On Monday, Michael didn’t show up for work where he was a Unit Training Manager, training security forces at Edwards Air Force Base. One of his colleagues and a friend whom he was out with that night filed a missing persons report.
“A friend of his drove down here and looked at his car and looked around,” his brother Tyler later stated. “She met with someone from the Hermosa PD just to let them know. They said to file a missing person report which had already been done. This friend is revealed in the Disappeared episode to have been Michael's Girlfriend at the time.
Michael had been scheduled to bring his son for surgery on Monday and when he failed to show his family knew something was very wrong.
On Tuesday morning, Michael's brother's Tyler and Charles along with his estranged wife travelled to Hermosa to look for him. The family have stated that while the police clearly did everything they could, they had felt a lack of urgency in the initial days Michael was missing.
The Police stated that the case has been hampered by the lack of witnesses, cctv coverage and the fact a sniffer dog wasn't brought in sooner. When a dog was brought in it lost Michael's scent near the liquor store and the family has stated that if it had been brought in sooner it might have got them a step closer to finding him.
Possible Outcomes:
Foul Play: The Police have been adamant in their dismissal of foul play as a possibility in Michael's case, they simply have found no evidence, means or motive for anyone to have intentionally done him harm.
Suicide: Suicide has been discounted by both the police and Michael's family due to his upbeat nature as recorded on the night and their statements of the kind of person he is around his kids and family.
Drowning/Shark attack/Intoxication: This is the accepted theory for both the authorities and the Family right now, in both the Disappeared episode and in media interviews his Brother Tyler has recounted a story of a trip to Hawaii during which he had gone up to bed only to be woken by Michael who was drunk and soaking wet having gone for a night time swim, he stated further that after drying him off and sending him back to get his things Michael returned again soaked from swimming.
Whether Michael fell off the pier that night or got in for a swim there is strong evidence to suggest he could have gotten into difficulty due to El Nino currents or been too intoxicated to return to shore. There is also the slim possibility of shark attack as shark attacks have occurred off the coast of South California before in Dusk or Dark conditions.
The only point against this theory is that if Michael had died in the waters off Hermosa Beach that night he would have washed ashore in several well known spots and authorities would have eventually recovered him, but they never did.
Conclusion: Despite the likely theory above, Michael's brother Tyler has stated that you can't just accept the likely conclusion because then you would stop searching for answers. He now lives in California to be closer to Michael's children and believes that with no proof of anything that could have happened that night the search for Michael will continue.
Charley Project page
Michael VanZandt:
At age 36 Michael VanZandt was living in Lancaster, California, he worked a civilian job for the U.S. Air Force after he had served for 12 years including 2 tours in Iraq. He has 3 children with his wife who he was in the process of divorcing at the time and was considered a very outgoing and personable individual that friends and work colleagues described as instantly both charming and engaging.
The Disappearance:
On March 5th 2016 it was a wet and rainy Saturday evening when VanZandt met friends at a bar called 'The Underground' in Hermosa. They were there to watch a televised UFC fight night and while there he was recorded on video by friends which shows him in an apparent good mood enjoying the night.
The evening had been planned out and Michael with several friends had got rooms at a motel called the Quality Inn in the 900 block of Aviation Boulevard nearby to spend the night after the UFC coverage was over.
Pier Plaza on Hermosa Beach is one of the most popular locations in the area and has a great night-life. Michael's brother Tyler has stated that he was familiar with the area having partied with friends there in the past.
Vanzandt was last seen by his friends at the American Junkie gastro pub, Vanzandt and his friends were waiting to get into American Junkie at 10:15 p.m. when they claim he told them he needed the bathroom and walked to the liquor store next door, he is seen on multiple cctv recordings at this time both in and outside the liquor store and then he walked back out.
After exiting the liquor store, Michael then walks away and around the corner of the store rather then back to his friends who are still in the queue, it is during this time they said they decided to try a different and less crowded bar and walked away. Just after they leave the queue and walk out of cctv shot, Michael returns from around the corner and can be seen looking for them in the queue before walking away.
For the next couple hours, Michael is seen on cameras meandering about Pier Plaza looking in bars for his friends, police later identified several times that he came close to them or passed them and even one shot in which the group walk past with Michael only several feet behind but seemingly both parties were unaware of each other. He then returns to Roberts Liquor Store where he purchased something to drink. The liquor store captured the dollar amount, but not what he bought, according to his brother Tyler though the Disappeared episode stated it was a bottle of whiskey.
The entire time his friends had been texting and calling him, different sources say at least 20 times but without any contact being established with Michael, in the Liquor store cctv the police believe they can see Michael's phone is dead when he checks it, possibly explaining the lack of contact.
Surveillance cameras showed him walking into the parking lot, towards the beach, at 11:30 p.m. He never went back to the hotel room and his friends were unable to reach him by cellular phone that night or the next day; he has never been heard from again. He left behind his car and personal belongings.
The Investigation:
On Sunday morning of March 6, Mike didn’t return to the hotel. His car was still parked in the same spot. His worried friends called jails and hospitals expecting him to have likely gotten drunk.
On Monday, Michael didn’t show up for work where he was a Unit Training Manager, training security forces at Edwards Air Force Base. One of his colleagues and a friend whom he was out with that night filed a missing persons report.
“A friend of his drove down here and looked at his car and looked around,” his brother Tyler later stated. “She met with someone from the Hermosa PD just to let them know. They said to file a missing person report which had already been done. This friend is revealed in the Disappeared episode to have been Michael's Girlfriend at the time.
Michael had been scheduled to bring his son for surgery on Monday and when he failed to show his family knew something was very wrong.
On Tuesday morning, Michael's brother's Tyler and Charles along with his estranged wife travelled to Hermosa to look for him. The family have stated that while the police clearly did everything they could, they had felt a lack of urgency in the initial days Michael was missing.
The Police stated that the case has been hampered by the lack of witnesses, cctv coverage and the fact a sniffer dog wasn't brought in sooner. When a dog was brought in it lost Michael's scent near the liquor store and the family has stated that if it had been brought in sooner it might have got them a step closer to finding him.
Possible Outcomes:
Foul Play: The Police have been adamant in their dismissal of foul play as a possibility in Michael's case, they simply have found no evidence, means or motive for anyone to have intentionally done him harm.
Suicide: Suicide has been discounted by both the police and Michael's family due to his upbeat nature as recorded on the night and their statements of the kind of person he is around his kids and family.
Drowning/Shark attack/Intoxication: This is the accepted theory for both the authorities and the Family right now, in both the Disappeared episode and in media interviews his Brother Tyler has recounted a story of a trip to Hawaii during which he had gone up to bed only to be woken by Michael who was drunk and soaking wet having gone for a night time swim, he stated further that after drying him off and sending him back to get his things Michael returned again soaked from swimming.
Whether Michael fell off the pier that night or got in for a swim there is strong evidence to suggest he could have gotten into difficulty due to El Nino currents or been too intoxicated to return to shore. There is also the slim possibility of shark attack as shark attacks have occurred off the coast of South California before in Dusk or Dark conditions.
The only point against this theory is that if Michael had died in the waters off Hermosa Beach that night he would have washed ashore in several well known spots and authorities would have eventually recovered him, but they never did.
Conclusion: Despite the likely theory above, Michael's brother Tyler has stated that you can't just accept the likely conclusion because then you would stop searching for answers. He now lives in California to be closer to Michael's children and believes that with no proof of anything that could have happened that night the search for Michael will continue.
Charley Project page