Woman reported missing near Los Angeles found safe in central California; no crime suspected

Missing woman found safe 275 miles from home

GLENDALE, Calif. — A woman whose disappearance sparked a massive search in the canyons northeast of Los Angeles was found alive and well Thursday in central California, but it’s unclear how or why she ended up nearly 300 miles from her home, police said.

Family and friends of Nancy Salas tearfully embraced and offered prayers of thanks in the family’s living room after hearing that the 22-year-old was in Merced police custody.

Salas was last seen around 6:30 a.m. Wednesday after telling her family she was going on her usual run in Chevy Chase Canyon. She left her cell phone, keys and car behind at the family’s home in Glendale, which is several miles north of Los Angeles.

Merced police spokesman Lt. Andre Matthews told the Merced Sun-Star that Salas walked into a carpet store in that town, which is more than 250 miles northwest of Los Angeles.

The young woman was in tears and asked an employee to call 911, showroom coordinator Melanie Mittelsteadt told the newspaper. She said she overheard Salas tell the emergency dispatcher something about a knife and a kidnapping.

Salas didn’t appear to be injured and was wearing black windbreaker pants, running shoes and a T-shirt, Mittelsteadt said.

What was considered a suspicious disappearance for more than a day abruptly changed course earlier Thursday when police discovered that Salas had misled her parents by telling them she was attending the University of California, Los Angeles.

The school reported that the fourth-year student and sociology major was last enrolled at UCLA in fall 2008.

“There is obviously deception; I don’t want to call it a double life,” Glendale police Sgt. Tom Lorenz had said.

Her mother and father had planned a graduation ceremony for their daughter, but didn’t seem concerned Thursday about UCLA’s claims that she didn’t attend the school. Both parents, wearing UCLA T-shirts, hugged relatives and friends and looked forward to seeing their daughter Thursday night or Friday.

“Everything has ended up beautifully,” the woman’s father Henry Salas, said in Spanish. “It’s incredible the help that we had — roommates, friends, friends from the university, friends from church.”

Her mother, Joanna Salas, smiled broadly as the crowd took turns offering her hugs.

“I’ve come back to life,” she said.

Salas’ disappearance prompted a sweeping but futile search by police officers and volunteers who were aided by rangers, bloodhounds and a helicopter. Detectives checked her cell phone and computer records for clues.

Friends and family members passed out flyers with her photograph and her friends mobilized on Facebook to exchange information and organize searches.

Lorenz said Glendale detectives had not been able to speak to Salas yet and that it remained unclear why she was in Merced, a town of around 80,500 people that has a UC campus and lies in the heart of the agricultural Central Valley.

She is not believed to have any relatives in that town, he said.

He said police were questioning Salas’ 19-year-old brother, Henry Salas Jr., who had been acting as the family’s spokesman.

Lorenz said there was no indication that any crime occurred.

Associated Press Writer Robert Jablon in Los Angeles contributed to this report.