UPDATE 9:43pm--We just found Nick sitting at the bus stop in front of Disneyland. He had been there all night. After 36 hours he's on his way home now.
MORE--His Dad and the detective in the family were driving down to cruise the Boulevard, so I decided to head over and check the places that I knew Nick would know. As I pulled up alongside Disneyland, I looked over at the bus stop and there he was sitting all alone. As I drove further up to make a U-turn at the light, I called his Dad and told him I found him. They were five minutes away, so they told me to watch him from a distance. I was able to drive past him again to the nearby Disneyland drop-off lot. I parked and crept back across the street, hiding behind the monorail pillars just out of sight. That's where I called Frugal Granny and asked her to post the news.
I saw their truck pull up and the family member who is a police detective got out and approached him. I could see him ease into it and talk real quietly to Nick, feeling him out and assessing his mental state. After about a minute or so, Nick got into the truck and the cop came over to me to tell me it was OK to come talk to him.
It turns out that Nick had come back to meet me yesterday morning as planned, but for some reason he had gone to the opposite end of the main entrance gates. When he didn't find me, he became worried that I had been in a wreck or something. He ended up sitting on the bench at the Bus Stop all night and most of today. Unfortunately he entered Disneyland today with his Annual Pass just shortly before the system was flagged to stop him.
We still don't fully understand why he didn't call his father (he did not, in fact, have my phone number with him). I'm choking up again as I write this. It has been a roller coaster of a day--more than 12 hours now. Thanks again to everyone for your support and concern. It has been more than I could have imagined. Thank you so much.
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Here's the original diary:
I'm holding vigil here at home by myself, waiting and hoping to hear something. I just got back from the Police Department reporting my friend missing. He was visiting from Ventura County and went missing yesterday at Disneyland.
I'm in contact with his father who is also from that area, and both of us are scouring our memories for possible scenarios for him.
I was sitting here reading the latest posts while biding my time and it occurred to me to reach out to our Kossack community. More after the jump.
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