A search is underway in the Palm Desert area of Riverside County’s Coachella Valley for a Los Angeles finance executive who has been missing since last week, according to authorities and his family.
The search for 33-year-old Omar Arce Meza has involved clients, friends, family, and the authorities, said his wife, Diane. She told the Los Angeles Times that law enforcement agencies, hospitals, jails, shelters and transit stations from the Coachella Valley to the U.S.-Mexico border have been alerted to be on the lookout for Meza.
Meza, a vice-president for AIG Financial Distributors, was last seen around 11 p.m. Thursday at the JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort and Spa, Riverside County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Tom Brewster said.
Diane Meza said she spoke to her husband around 11:20 p.m. Thursday as he left a dinner with colleagues in Palm Desert; he said he would call her when he returned to his room. That call never came, she said.
Diane Mesa told NBC4 his colleagues placed Meza in an Uber cab, but there may have been some confusion as to which Marriott facility he was staying at.
Mesa was reported missing around midday Friday after he failed to show up for scheduled meetings that morning.
The search was taken up by the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department Saturday, Sheriff’s Sgt. Tom Brewster said. Desert Search and Rescue members with bloodhounds scoured the surrounding area without success, he said.
Checks of ponds on the resort property Sunday and Monday were also unsuccessful, Brewster said.
When last seen, Meza, who stands about 5 feet 10 inches and weighs 155 pounds, was wearing a gray suit, white shirt and blue tie.
A Facebook page had been established to share photos and information about the search for Meza.
Diane Meza told The Times her husband’s clients have been handing out fliers.
Anyone with information on Meza’s whereabouts was urged to call Palm Desert sheriff’s deputies at (760) 836-1600, or the non-emergency dispatch number at (760) 836-3215.
—City News Service