SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - A worried mother is appealing for tips after the mysterious disappearance of her 21-year-old son, less than three weeks after he moved from San Diego to Oregon.
“You can feel so much anguish and despair,” said a tearful Laura Stanton.
Stanton says her emotions come out, even as she tries to focus on finding her son, Miles.
“A lot of people say that having a child missing is a parent's worst nightmare, a mom’s worst nightmare … It’s an understatement. It's so much worse than that,” said Stanton.
Her son, Miles, who graduated from High Tech High in Point Loma, was attending BYU-Hawaii when the pandemic hit.
He didn't go back to school. Recently, he quit a job in San Diego, and in early October, he moved to Tualatin, Oregon, south of Portland, and stayed with a high school friend.
On October 20, he finished a shift as a FedEx driver in the early afternoon. Hours later, surveillance video shows him at a gas station in Aurora, about 15 minutes south of his home.
“Pretty routine … go to the bathroom, buy snacks, put in gas,” said Stanton.
Stanton says that was his last credit card charge, and his cell phone stopped pinging within half an hour.
“Pretty close by. Everything just stops there around 3:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. time period. There’s really no trace of him,” said Stanton.
Stanton says Miles hasn't been heard from since, which is out of character.
“He’s never not told anyone where he's going. We know something is wrong. It's not like him. We know it's not like him,” said Stanton.
Miles was last seen wearing a red hoodie, blue jeans, black sneakers, and a black beanie. He also has two tattoos, one above each knee. One of them is a bison. Miles’s vehicle is also missing.
He was last seen driving a black 1997 Honda CR-V with Utah license plate number U203HR that has skateboard and anime stickers on it. A community search didn't turn up any clues.
Stanton, now in Oregon, says dozens of family and friends from San Diego and elsewhere have turned up for their daily searches.
“I just want to find him safe … I want to bring him home and never let him leave again,” said Stanton.
Stanton says Miles does not suffer from any mental health issues and doesn't know of any reason he would voluntarily disappear.
Police say there is no evidence of any foul play. Anyone with information regarding Miles’s whereabouts is asked to call the Tualatin Police Department at 503-691-4800.
