Copter, Sensing Device Used to Hunt for Doctor
Police used a helicopter with an infrared sensing device on Friday to search for a young physician who disappeared last week after setting out on a mountain bike ride.
The search concentrated on the rugged Topanga Canyon area 20 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles after officers found entries in Dr. Steven Ray Stoltz’s journal that showed he had biked there twice before.
“It’s a big area. We’re talking 50 square miles,” said Los Angeles Police Detective John Sack.
Stoltz, 25, hasn’t been seen or heard from since pedaling away last Friday on his blue-green mountain bike.
Family and friends searched on foot Thursday and volunteer cyclists were to join the search on Saturday, scouring the canyon’s many miles of bike trails, said Beverly Hartunian, the mother of another young physician. She is acting as a volunteer liaison with police in the search effort.
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