Johnson’s friends post ‘missing persons’ fliers around city
Candlelight vigil planned for her birthday on Thursday evening As police continue to search for leads, the parents of a woman who has been missing for more than 10 days have joined the local hunt.
Kristine Louise Johnson disappeared Saturday, Feb. 15 when she was reportedly on her way to meet a Beverly Hills photographer, according to police.
Johnson’s parents, who divorced in 1990, acted separately to help police and her friends locate their 21-year-old daughter. Kirk Johnson, who lives in Saugatuck, Mich., was in Santa Monica last weekend to be interviewed by police and help his daughter’s co-workers tack-up “missing persons” fliers around the city.
“I asked police what else we could do and they said the best thing is for us to stay at home,” said Johnson, who boarded a flight back to Michigan on Monday.
Her mother, Terry Wark, lives in Los Gatos, Calif., and has scheduled a candlelight vigil on her daughter’s 22nd birthday, which will be Thursday, Feb. 27. The vigil will be held at 7:30 p.m. at St. Augustin by the Sea, an Episcopal church located at 1227 Fourth St.
A similar vigil will be held the same day at 7:30 p.m. EST in Johnson’s home-town of Saugatuck, Mich.
“I love and adore Kristi so much,” Wark said recently. “I just want to hear that she’s all right.”
Police on Monday said they don’t have the specific name of the photographer Johnson may have gone to see, which makes finding him difficult.
They received the scant information about the photographer from a friend of Johnson’s and released it hoping that she may have mentioned the appointment to another friend or acquaintance, said Lt. Frank Fabrega, a Santa Monica Police spokesman.
Another lead police are pursuing is Johnson’s car, a white 1996 Mazda Miata with a license plate 3RSV484.
“The car holds a lot of information for us,” Fabrega said.
An “all points bulletin” was issued nationwide for the car though it had not been found as of Monday.
Her mother reported Johnson missing to the Santa Monica Police Department after the 21-year-old failed to show up for work on Monday, Feb. 17. Wark said Johnson, a data entry worker at Marina Del Rey-based CNCG Cellular, was supposed to be in her office on President’s Day.
Wark left messages on Johnson’s cell phone Saturday afternoon and Sunday evening, but her calls weren’t returned. That struck Wark as odd since the two spoke on a daily basis, she said.
Wark said Johnson’s cell phone and bank account haven’t been used since Saturday morning, according to those records.
Police officers continue to interview Johnson’s friends and co-workers, searching for clues to her whereabouts.
Johnson was last seen on Saturday afternoon at her Santa Monica apartment, which she shares with two roommates, on the 2200 block of 29th Street, Fabrega said.
Wark said she spoke to her daughter Saturday morning and she didn’t mention an appointment with a photographer. She said her daughter was more concerned with getting into a Spring semester course at Santa Monica College, where she has been taking night courses with the hope of attending UCLA in the future.
Johnson found a full-time job at CNCG Cellular in November 2002 and she moved to Santa Monica at that time to begin taking classes at SMC.
CNCG, located at 13453 Beach Ave. in Marina Del Rey, is a small company with about eight employees, said James LaPointe, the company’s warehouse manager.
CNCG workers organized themselves into groups to go out into the neighborhoods surrounding where Johnson lives and went to school to post “missing persons” fliers. They began tacking up fliers last Thursday and continued through the weekend.
Kinkos, a printing store, has donated office supplies and up to 2,000 copies of Johnson’s “missing persons” flier from the police department to help friends find her.
Anyone with information about Johnson’s disappearance is encouraged to call the SMPD’s tip line at (310) 458- 8449. Or anyone interested in helping Johnson’s co-workers post fliers can call James LaPointe at (310) 822-4321.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 25, 2003. Read the original PDF.