South Laguna hiker still missing

The search for an 83-year-old Laguna man who went missing near his home more than a week ago continues, even as hopes for his safe return begin to wane.

Andre Mayenzet, an avid hiker who suffered from dementia, left his Three Arch Bay home at 5 a.m. on June 20, and a residential security camera recorded him walking toward a trail he used regularly.

Search efforts from law enforcement ? involving a helicopter, bloodhounds and cadaver dogs ? have dropped off to almost nothing.

Police Det. Sgt. Darin Lenyi said his department has exhausted its resources and has no new leads to go on.

“We’ve tried everything we can to locate him,” Lenyi said. “We still disseminate the fliers, and we’re going to try the cadaver dogs again.”

Family members said the elderly man was meticulous about his hiking, and would record the departure and arrival times of his hikes in a notebook kept in the kitchen.

Daughter Maria Mayenzet said that for him to go missing is out of character. He would spend an hour on each walk, returning home to record each one almost mechanically, she added.

He was reported last seen June 21 resting near Monarch Point in Laguna Niguel by a family, Maria said.

“They said his eyes looked vacant,” she said.

Speculating he may have suffered from a stroke, or some other disabling event, Maria said her father had never walked beyond Three Arch Bay.

“He would always tap the fence line with his cane then turn around,” she said. “It was very unusual for him to be there [in Monarch Point].”

A mental test taken by Andre a day before he went missing showed no alarming indications, Maria said.

Maria said she has received search help from 60 to 80 volunteers, 99% of whom she has never met.

The volunteers have spread out into the thick brush surrounding Three Arch Bay, but have come up with no signs of Andre.

Rock climbers with rappelling equipment, as well as free printing at UPS stores for fliers has been made available, she said.

How far Andre may have gone is a key question to searchers.

“It’s so vast and desolate no matter where you go,” Maria said. “He would take four walks a day. He was in physically good condition.”

A former navigator for shipping lines, Andre liked to chart things. As a young man, he surveyed land in Alaska, and before computers, he plotted charts by looking at stars, his daughter said.

Andre is 6 feet 1, 196 pounds, with a white beard and brown eyes. He is wearing black sweat pants, a gray or black long sleeved shirt, a straw safari hat and is carrying a wooden cane.

Maria is organizing another search effort for Saturday. For more information, call (949) 499-5254 or (949) 235-3919.cpt.30-missingman-CPhotoInfoLL1SF0N420060630j1lgb4nc(LA)Andre Mayenzet