San Pedro Man, 78, Missing; Family Seeks Public’s Help

Relatives of a 78-year-old man with Alzheimer’s disease who disappeared from his San Pedro home April 25 are asking for the public’s help in finding him.

David W. Piper Sr., a retired gardener for the city Harbor Department who also suffers from epilepsy and high blood pressure, was last seen April 25 at the home of his daughter in the 1400 block of Santa Cruz Street in San Pedro.

Evangeline Piper said her father was reading the newspaper when she went to bed that night, but when she woke up the next morning he was gone. A daily check of area hospitals and calls to the police have failed to turn up any sign of him, she said.

Piper, who with other family members has spent the past week and a half searching for her father, said she hopes he didn’t somehow get caught up in the violence that wracked the city last week.

“We’re hoping he’s not in jail someplace for being confused with a looter or something,” Piper said. She said that her father was carrying a wallet with identification and wearing a medical-alert necklace when he disappeared, but it’s possible he could have lost those items. He had no money except perhaps some pocket change.

Piper said her father is Caucasian, about 5 feet 7 inches tall, 135 pounds, with blue eyes and brown hair graying at the temples. When last seen he was wearing tan Levi slacks, brown shoes, green socks and a short-sleeve plaid shirt. He might also have been wearing a Dodgers cap.

“These kinds of disappearances are always frustrating,” said Detective Paul Marks of the LAPD missing persons unit. “I wish there was more that we could do, but we’re all doing the best we can.”

Marks said his unit has been doing double duty since the riots, trying to identify and track riot-related casualties as well as handling the normal flow of missing persons reports, which number in the thousands yearly.

Anyone with information about David W. Piper Sr. should contact the LAPD Harbor Division at (310) 548-7603, or the LAPD missing persons unit at (213) 485-5381.