> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Santa Monica woman found, others missing - URL: https://www.smdp.com/santa-monica-woman-found-others-missing/ - Published: 2005-12-05T16:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-23T08:15:57.000Z - Author: Carolyn Sackariason - Tags: local, Santa Monica, #archive-import, Homeless *Woman with amnesia recovers her memory* POLICE HDQTRS. — Authorities this year have been able to close one missing-persons case, locating a woman who vanished from Santa Monica more than two years ago. Gemma Coronel, also known as Kirsty Jane Ormerod, or Gemma Michelle Taylor, was located in May after being missing since Sept. 3, 2003. Coronel, who had been the most recent missing-persons case posted on the Santa Monica Web site, failed to meet her then 50-year-old husband after a routine work-out at the YMCA on Sixth Street. Coronel, 22 at the time of her disappearance, is originally from Wales. Coronel said she would meet her husband in the YMCA lobby, but when he arrived, the receptionist said Coronel had already left. She never showed up and didn’t tell anyone she was leaving. Her husband reported her missing a few days later. “She kind of up and left,” Santa Monica Police Detective Dan Salerno told the Daily Press earlier this year, adding further investigation revealed that Coronel was initially reported missing in Wales in 2002\. “She had a past that the husband did not know about... she has a history of moving on when she is tired or fed up... she just moves on.” That appeared to be the case in Coronel’s most recent disappearance. Salerno said he had been working with Coronel’s mother in the United Kingdom in trying to locate her. Apparently Coronel finally contacted her mother, who told her local police had been looking for her for nearly two years. Through Salerno, she instructed Coronel to check in with law enforcement in the California city to which she had moved. After speaking with her, Salerno confirmed that Coronel had moved on and married another man. He closed the case on May 19. Working with a private missing-persons group in the United Kingdom and Interpol, SMPD detectives learned that prior to her disappearance in Santa Monica, Coronel went missing after she traveled from Wales to Chicago for a Guns ‘n’ Roses concert in November of 2002\. According to family members, she was expected to return to Wales on Nov. 20, 2002\. But she never came home. AMNESIA CASE SOLVED Police for three years had attempted to learn the identity of this woman, who walked into the old Crocodile Cafe at 101 Ocean Ave. in March of 2001 and collapsed. Detectives ran her fingerprints and checked the missing-persons list, but they turned up nothing. Not appearing homeless, the woman said she couldn’t remember who she was. She was transferred to the Pasadena Residential Care Facility, where she still remains. But then in August of 2004, she remembered who she was. “She’s from Las Vegas, estranged from her family,” Salerno said. “She had no recollection of how she got here.” VANISHED WITHOUT A TRACE Like in the case of Coronel, sometimes police will locate missing persons only to find out they didn’t want to be found. If that’s the case and they appear stable and not in any danger, authorities will tell family members or the reporting party that their loved one was found. The whereabouts of four individuals posted on the SMPD’s Web site remain a mystery to family members, as well as to authorities who have been looking for them with a variety of resources. SMPD detectives have been continuously working with agencies throughout the United States, and in some cases, the United Kingdom, to find the missing Santa Monica residents. But even working with Interpol, the Department of Justice, the INS, the IRS, credit card companies, banks, as well as local, state and other national authorities, Santa Monica detectives have run into dead-ends finding the missing persons. The SMPD’s Web site serves as an additional resource in hopes that someone will recognize the individuals and contact detectives. The SMPD will enter a missing person’s information into its own records so if the individual has any contact with police, such as arrests or traffic tickets, officers will be alerted to their status. Any information given to the SMPD by the person who reported them missing — such as dental records, photographs or DNA — is forwarded onto the DOJ and other agencies including the sheriff’s department, the coroner’s office and the morgue. SMPD at least once a year communicates with the reporting party on the status of the case, as does the DOJ, which requires annual notification. Anyone having information regarding any of the missing persons is asked to contact the SMPD at (310) 458-8451\. Police have little information on the following individuals who have been missing since as long ago as 1994 and as recently as 2003: GRAYSON LYONS Originally from Britain, Lyons, 36, was last seen on Nov. 29, 1994\. At the time of his disa p p e a r a n c e, Grayson lived in Santa Monica with friends. Lyons’ mother had normally been in frequent contact with him but had had a fight with him shortly before his disappearance. “He may have psychiatric problems and could be living on the street,” Salerno said. “And he could be using an alias, which makes it that much harder to find him.” Local detectives are working with Interpol on Lyons’ whereabouts. Height: 5 feet, 8 inches Weight: 165 pounds Hair: Brown Eyes: Blue Grayson speaks with a British accent. DONALD MARCELINO ALVAREZ- VALLECILLO The 43-year-old has been missing since 1999 but not reported as such until March 2, 2003, when Denny Hirley reported that she had not seen or heard from her uncle, Donald Marcelino Alvarez-Vallecillo. “He basically just vanished,” Salerno said. “He was single, had friends here. One day he said he was going to return and never did. We think he may have gone back to Nicaragua.” Alvarez-Vallecillo was temporarily living with Hirley at 1249 Lincoln Blvd. #5 in Santa Monica. He left home during the last week of February 1994 with two Latino men. He has not been seen or heard from since. Upon leaving his residence, he said to Hirley, “I’ll be back tonight.” “We ran in-house checks, with the INS, IRS, anything to link whether this guy is still around,” Salerno said. “If he’s stopped by U.S. Customs, they’ll use the same databases and they’ll notify us.” He is described as Latino, 5 feet, 8 inches tall, 150 pounds, brown hair, brown eyes. He was born on May 9, 1962\. He has a medium build and complexion, and has a mustache. He has scars above his left eye. He was last seen wearing a black leather jacket, white T-shirt, blue jeans and tennis shoes. He was a passenger in a red Toyota, unknown year. The vehicle had a white California license plate. JOHN A. RANDALL The 60-year-old electrical engineer resided in Santa Monica and left his home in August of 1997 but wasn’t reported missing by family members in Greece until a year later. He left behind his cat and other personal belongings. Randall wired $50,000 to his mother in Greece in 1997 and had called his brother in Greece in October of 1997, advising him that he was possibly going to Asia and would contact him once he relocated. “After that, he wasn’t heard by the family,” Salerno said. Randall was last seen October of 1997 in Carson City, Nev. He sold his car to a car dealership and cashed the check at a local bank. He had a backpack and suitcase with him, and was last seen on foot. “He’s a very interesting case, and a lot of time and effort has gone into it,” Salerno said. “We have no idea where he went or why.” Salerno added that Randall has been difficult to find because he was elusive while he lived here — using only P.O. boxes. There’s been no activity on his driving record, bank accounts or credit cards. HEIGHT: 5 feet, 8 inches WEIGHT: 145 pounds HAIR: Brown EYES: Brown BORN: May 5, 1945 CALIFORNIA DRIVER’S LICENSE NUM- BER: N7227871 JOHN CLIFTON BUTLER Butler, now 54 years old, was last seen in 1994 living on the streets of Santa Monica. He was reported missing in September of 1999 when a family member tried to locate him to inform him that his father had died and left him a substantial amount of money. “He’s one of those indigent people that the family hadn’t seen for a long time,” Salerno said, adding the SMPD has checked with all of the local homeless shelters and social service agencies looking for Butler. He has been in and out of mental institutions from California to Oregon. In 1984, Butler traveled to Belgium but was immediately sent back to the United States due to his mental condition. He suffers from paranoid schizophrenia. Height: 5 feet, 10 inches WEIGHT: 130 pounds HAIR: Brown EYES: Brown BORN: July 22, 1951 *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 5, 2005.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/120505.pdf?ref=smdp.com)