LAPD: Son likely runaway
A Los Angeles father is desperately searching for his missing son, who is believed to have last been seen in Santa Monica.
Javier Segovia said he last saw his son Nick Segovia, 16, when he dropped him off at Los Angeles International Airport on Monday morning for a return flight home to Miami.
Nick Segovia, a high school student, has been living with his mother in Miami this past year and had been visiting his father in Los Angeles for spring break when he disappeared. His parents have been divorced since he was 3 years old.
“I got a call from Nick Monday night, saying he was fine,” Javier Segovia said. “Then I heard he never left Los Angeles.”
Javier Segovia said it was a coincidence that a friend he was with on Monday night heard his son never got on his flight and was still in the Los Angeles area — first in Marina del Rey, then in Santa Monica.
“I was told Nick spent the night in Santa Monica with a homeless man named Scott, or ‘Scooter,’ who agreed to take Nick under his wing,” Javier Segovia said. “They were supposed to leave Wednesday for northern California.”
Javier Segovia said he was joined by one of his friends, and two of his son’s friends, as they passed out some 200 flyers along the Third Street Promenade and throughout Santa Monica on Wednesday in the hopes that someone would recognize Nick or know of his whereabouts. Javier Segovia said he talked to many of the city’s homeless residents in the downtown area and along the Santa Monica Pier, who offered some tips. Still, the father said it had not been confirmed whether his son had left Santa Monica.
Javier Segovia said he contacted the Los Angeles Police Department, which informed him that his son was likely a voluntary runaway. Because his son disappeared at LAX, it is LAPD’s jurisdiction and not that of the Santa Monica Police Department.
Javier Segovia, who remarried six years ago, said his son had trouble in school, had difficulty paying attention and as a result, failed the 10th grade last year. That’s when he moved to Miami to live with his mother.
Nick Segovia is supposed to be on medication, called Adderall, for his attention disorder. It’s not known if he is still taking his medication.
Despite the unfortunate turn of events, Javier Segovia said it had been a great week for him and his son.
“He learned to drive stick, not an easy thing to do,” Javier Segovia said. “Everything was great. I don’t understand what happened.
“We gave him everything emotionally and materially.”
Anyone with information on Nick Segovia’s whereabouts is asked to contact Javier Segovia at (323) 397-4840.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 31, 2005. Read the original PDF.