Still no sign of missing runner Philip Kreycik after investigation into cries for help
PLEASANTON, Calif. - Search and rescue teams in the East Bay followed up on a potential lead into the disappearance of a runner in Pleasanton but turned up nothing.
Social media accounts linked to the search for 37-year-old Philip Kreycik, who went missing five days ago, said there were cries for help in a canyon in Sunol overnight.
They requested volunteers to gather at the Sunol post office as a rallying point to check out where those calls for help originated or if they could possibly be tied to the search for the Berkeley father of two. But by noon on Wednesday, there was no sight of him.
"The community search team responded to that. We followed up on the search and scoured that area. We came back with negative results following that report," Alameda County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Sgt. Ray Kelly said during an afternoon press briefing.
At this point searchers are admitting they are stumped as to what could have happened to him. He has been missing since Saturday after going out for a run in Pleasant Ridge Regional Park.
He had mapped out his intended 8-mile route in the Plesanton Hills, but that area has been searched.
Kreycik's SUV, parked at a trailhead, had his wallet, phone, and shirt in it.
Wearing just shorts and shoes in 104 degree heat, he set off.
Search dogs found but lost his scent after a short distance; it's believed to have been eroded by heat and wind.
But in a park that has hundreds of visitors daily, not one person has said they saw Kreycik running at midday Saturday.
Authorities said search and rescue teams will scale back the search as investigators explore another scenario— the possibility that Kreycik is not in the park.
Kreycik is a scientist, married with two children, with no history of instability.