Nineteen year old Bryce Laspisa was a student at Sierra College in Rocklin, California. His parents, Karen and Mike Laspisa, live 500 miles south in Laguna Niguel. Since his freshman year, Bryce has been dating Kim. They were very happy.
On August 28, Bryce’s roommate Sean called Bryce’s mom Karen and told her Bryce was acting very strange. He broke up with Kim via text, very unlike him because Sean knew he was in love with Kim. And he was much too polite to ever break up with her via text. Bryce was unusually argumentative and spacy. Sean tells her that Bryce has been drinking a lot and taking the ADHD drug Vyvanse to stay awake. Vyvanse, like Ritalin and LSD, is a mind-altering drug which creates psychotic breaks. This is a prescription drug, so Bryce is taking it illegally. Otherwise he would know just how dangerous it is because it is accompanied by a two page warning about permanent brain damage and possible psychotic breaks. But Karen and Mike weren’t concerned. This was their first warning that their son was extremely mentally ill.
A couple of hours later, Bryce calls his mom and tells her he is in Kim’s apartment in Chico (90 miles north) and she won’t give him his keys. So he puts Kim on the phone. Kim tells Karen that Bryce is acting strange and is not himself. He is intoxicated, high on something, and he is not coherent enough to drive. Karen demands that Kim give Bryce his keys and Bryce leaves at 11:30 pm. This was their second warning that their son was extremely mentally ill.
On his drive back to his apartment on campus, Bryce calls his mom and tells her “I have a lot to talk to you about”. She tells him to drive home, get some sleep, and call them tomorrow. At this point two people close to their son have told Karen and Mike that Bryce is experiencing some type of mental breakdown. They have ignored both, assuming that if he can speak, he’s coherent enough to drive. And Bryce is driving on the freeway in this state, a danger to himself and others.
At 1:00 am, Bryce calls Karen and he’s more than an hour away from his apartment and heading the opposite way. He’s confused and drugged. He’s in the middle of nowhere. Still, his parents don’t tell him to stay there, don’t call 911, and don’t hop in the car to go find him. What’s really disturbing is that this is the third call. This drug has altered his brain and he’s experiencing a mental breakdown of some kind, probably a psychotic break. Two people have tried helping him and contacted his parents who told them to leave him alone. This was their third warning that their son was extremely mentally ill.
At 11 am on August 29, Karen and Mike get an alert that Bryce has called for roadside assistance. Karen calls Bryce’s apartment and discovers he never came home. They check their credit card charges and see a new charge from Buttonwillow, California, a truck stop on Interstate 5. Bryce has gone way past Sierra College and is only a few hours from their home in Laguna Niguel. The charge is traced to Castro Tire and Truck, so they call them. Christian, the driver from Castro Tire and Truck, took Bryce 3 gallons of gas at 9 am. Bryce is literally right next to a truck stop and gas station. Why didn’t he just get gas? Christian volunteers to see if Bryce is still there and drives back to the spot where he gave gas to Bryce. Bryce is in the exact same spot. He hasn’t moved in 3 hours. So Christian calls Karen and hands the phone to Bryce. This is now the fourth warning that Bryce is either suffering from a stroke, mental breakdown, or psychotic break. He is unable to function. Karen tells Bryce to get gas and drive home. It’s only 3 hours to home. He should be there at 3 pm.
Four and half hours later at 3:30 pm, Bryce is not at his parents’ home and not answering the phone. It’s now been at least 24 hours since his mental breakdown began. His parents are still at home, ignoring the warning signs and phone calls from others that their son is not well. They are only 3 hours away, but have made no attempt to go get him. His parents finally call the police who ping his phone. He’s still in the Buttonwillow truck stop. He’s been there 9 hours.
Police think he’s afraid to go home, not recognizing the signs of a mental breakdown from alcohol and overdose of illegal brain altering drugs. Karen doesn’t even tell the police about the alcohol or drugs. Instead she asks “does he appear safe to drive”? The officer, who doesn’t know Bryce or his recent past, says yes. He gives Bryce a sobriety test, which Bryce passes, and he searches his car and doesn’t find anything. The officer can’t get him to call his mom Karen. He refuses and is very paranoid. He’s been in this state for more than 24 hours. Karen tells the officer to tell him to get something to eat and drive home. This is the fifth warning that Bryce is extremely mentally ill. And even though Karen and Mike Laspisa have involved the police and multiple other people, they are still too lazy to drive 3 hours to get their son. It’s shocking.
An hour later, Christian from the Castro Tire and Truck returns an earlier phone call from Karen. She tells him Bryce hasn’t left. So he volunteers to check on him again. He finds Bryce still there. He hasn’t moved in 13 hours. Karen asks him to get Bryce on the road. So Christian waits for Bryce to go and follows him for a few miles. This was the sixth warning that Bryce is extremely mentally ill and unfit to drive.
While Bryce is driving, Karen and Mike keep calling him. Bryce appears confused and evasive. They ask him questions about road signs. He can’t read them. He can’t read them. That is another sign, but they ignore it. The seventh warning sign.
At 2:09 am on August 30, Bryce calls Karen and says he’s too tired to drive. He says he’s going to sleep in the car a few hours. That’s not what he does. In his mental state, he is not coherent. He sees a lake and drives there. He basically attempts to kill himself.
At 8 am, California Highway Patrol rings the Laspisas’ doorbell. Bryce’s vehicle has been found in an accident in Castaic Lake. Bryce is missing.
What police piece together is that Bryce left the freeway, drove up an access road to Castaic Lake, and drove next to an access tower off a steep cliff. In a car at that point the lake looks very close, like you can drive right into it. He was trying to commit suicide. His vehicle rolled down the hill, crashed, and he climbed out. Police determine from the displaced large boulders, Bryce accelerated down that steep cliff.
This has now become a probable suicide. When police speak to Kim and Sean they discover Bryce had given away his most prized possessions in the past few days including his cherished Xbox and diamond earrings his mother gave him. This is something suicides and runaways do. It’s consistent with a psychotic break from the alcohol and illegal drugs. ADHD drugs like Ritalin and Vyvanse alter brain chemistry. When you pick up a prescription for these you have to read and sign a two page warning that it can cause permanent brain damage. It can also create psychotic breaks up to 50 years after you’ve taken the drug. The dosage is 1 a day. Bryce was taking several and with alcohol.
Bibliography
Disappeared, Season 7 Episode 3: Road to Nowhere, air date: Apr 24, 2016.
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