Have YOU heard the unsolved case of Bryce Laspisa?
This case is absolutely crazy and the fact that it’s unsolved will drive you mad!
Bryce Laspisa was a college student studying at Sierra College in Rocklin California. He had a great group of friends, including his roommate Sean and girlfriend Kim. Things seemed to be going great until Tuesday August 27th, 2013 when Bryce’s behavior started to worry his friends, specifically his girlfriend Kim who lived in Chico California, about 90 miles away.
Kim realized something was off when Bryce had told her he was taking prescription drugs that were not prescribed to him. This isn't so abnormal for college students, however Kim was not the only one who had noticed a change in his behavior.
Bryce’s roommate Sean was also extremely concerned and on Wednesday, August 28th called Bryce’s mom Karen to voice his concerns. He told Karen that Bryce had been drinking heavily and taking Vyvanse in order to stay up all night to play video games. To this day, no one is sure how long Bryce had been awake. What really perked Seans attention though, was when Bryce started giving away some of his prized possessions, including his X-box and a pair of diamond earrings that were given to him by his mother. Sean also told Karen that Bryce had broken up with Kim over text message, something that was surprising and very out of character.
Despite breaking up with Kim the night before, on Wednesday night Bryce hopped in to his car and made the unexpected 90 mile journey to Kim's apartment in Chico, California. Kim immediately knew something was wrong, she later said he was acting agitated, very strange and definitely not like himself. She felt that he was in no state to drive so she took his keys and called Karen to see if she could help.
Kim voiced her concerns to Karen and handed the phone to Bryce. Karen realized at this point that something was up, this was the second call in two days she had received from one of her sons friends. She offered to fly up there and visit Bryce the next morning but he refused. Bryce told his mother that he had something very important he wanted to talk to her about so they made a plan for Bryce to go back to his apartment and they would talk the next morning. Karen instructed Kim to give the keys back to Bryce and at around 11:30pm he left, presumably for his apartment in Rocklin, California.
And this is where things get really bizarre.
At around 1am on August 29th Karen misses a call on her home phone. She didn’t give the call much thought, just assuming it was Bryce calling to tell her he had gotten home. This would have made sense as the trip would have taken him about an hour and a half.
Unfortunately, that was not the case.
The call was from Bryce, however it was made from an isolated area about an hour away from Bryce's apartment in Rocklin.
On August 30th things only continued to get worse.
At around 11am the Laspisas received a message from Bryce, he had used their road side assistance after running out of gas in Buttonwillow California.
This is important…
Everyone assumed Bryce was headed from Chico back to Rocklin, an hour and a half drive. However, Buttonwillow is about six hours away from Chico and five hours past Rocklin which had the Laspisas extremely confused and wondering if Bryce was trying to get back to his family home in Laguna Niguel which was only 3 hours from Buttonwillow.
At around 9am Bryce had charged $20 on his parents credit card to pay for gas, and the road side assistance helped facilitate the delivery of this gas to him. A man named Christian who worked for a nearby tire store brought the fuel to Bryce as he waited in his car.
Karen attempts to get in touch with Bryce by cell phone at around noon however, Bryce is not answering her calls. Worried that she couldn't get in touch with her son, Karen calls the tire company and see if they can check and be sure Bryce is not still there. She speaks with Christian and he offers to go check.
Bryce is still there…
He has not moved his car since Christian brought him the fuel hours earlier.
Karen is able to finally speak with Bryce at around 12:30pm and they agree that Bryce will make his way to the gas station to fill up his car and come straight back to the family home. Based on where he is, the Laspisas now expect their son home at around 3pm.
When Bryce doesn’t arrive home by 3:30, the Laspisas attempt to get in touch with him, but he doesnt answer his phone.
At around 6pm they decide to file a missing persons report with their county. After getting in touch with the police, they are able to get a ping on his phone
Bryce, had not moved. He is still in Buttonwillow.
Local police are called and instructed to go check on him, when they locate him, they discover he has only driven 8 miles since he spoke to his mother hours earlier. Police are finally able to connect Karen with Bryce and Karen tells Bryce to get some food and then come straight home. The police confirm with Karen that Bryce seems safe to drive, not under the influence and completely lucid.
Hours later, Karen receives a call from Christian, the man who had delivered the gas, he was returning a missed call from earlier in the day. They filled him in on what had happened and Christian said, "You know what hey, let me just go back and check just to be 100% sure he isn't still there". 15 minutes later, the Laspisas got a call back. Christian informed them that Bryce WAS STILL THERE! He offers to follow Bryce for a few miles just to make sure Bryce was moving.
So Bryce is now officially on his way with Christian as an escort. His family consistently call him to check in where he is and he keeps saying that he will arrive at 3:25am. When asked where he is, he just says its too dark and he isn't really sure.
At 2:09 he tells his family he is too tired to continue driving and his parents instruct him to pull over and take a nap and then continue home once he has had time to rest. But, in the morning, Bryce is still not home.
Instead, police knock on the door and tell them that Bryce’s car had been found overturned at a lake around 2 hours from their home, and 1 hour from Buttowillow.
The crash looked intentional, it appeared that Bryce had attempted to crash in to the lake but because of some optics, the lake was farther than he realized and he missed the lake.
Bryce was not found in the car, in fact it looked as though he had broken the back window and crawled out. There were a few drops of blood but nothing to say that he had been severely injured in the crash. Still inside the car were his phone and laptop as well as a duffle bag and wallet outside the car. Police do an extensive search of the area and the lake but Bryce is no where to be found.
However, police do find something, a surveillance camera with footage of Bryces car.
6 minutes after he gets off the phone with his mom saying he needs a nap, the camera snaps a picture of his license plate going up the hill.
At 4:29 am, an hour before his car was found and 2 hours after getting off his phone the camera snaps a picture of his license plate again, going in the exact same direction up the hill again.
On day 9 of the search, police were able to track his scent over a bridge and to a truck stop.
And thats it.
There haven't been any other clues since that day and no one knows what really happened.
There are a couple different theories as to what happened, the police believe that Bryce just wanted a new start, dropped everything and began a new life.
His parents believe that he had to have hit his head during the accident and lost his memory.
The internet believes that he died by suicide and might still be in the lake.
So what do you think happened?
Resources:
http://purpleastrology.weebly.com/laspisa-bryce.html
https://truecrimetimesblog.medium.com/the-strange-vanishing-of-bryce-laspisa-b8f5c6936889
Crimejunkies
https://crimejunkiepodcast.com/missing-bryce-laspisa/
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