By Denisse Salazar, Jon Cassidy, Sean Emery and Vik Jolly
Orange Country Register
CALIFORNIA — A Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy who went missing Sunday while hiking in the Cleveland National Forest was found dead Tuesday.
Zoltan Tombol, 42, of Yorba Linda, an avid hiker and cross country runner, went missing near Green River Road and the 91, said Brea police Sgt. Bill Smyser.
“We found him deceased off one of the trailheads up there,” he said.
The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department will handle the death investigation, Smyser said.
Tombol’s body was discovered by a search-and-rescue team walking through the area, Riverside officials said. Neither Brea police nor Riverside officials would comment on the possible cause of death.
An autopsy will be conducted today, Riverside sheriff’s Sgt. Dennis Gutierrez said, although toxicology test results may take up to six to eight weeks.
“We have lost a valued member of our family,” Los Angeles County sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore said. “Our thoughts and prayers are now focused with his family, friends and loved ones.”
Tombol was a 19-year department veteran who had worked in the training division since 2005. He was also a veteran of the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne, department officials said.
The search began after Tombol’s wife filed a missing-person report Sunday evening with the Brea Police Department after he failed to pick up his son from a cousin’s house. His wife last saw him at about 6:30 a.m. Sunday, said Brea Lt. Darrin Devereux.
Corona police found Tombol’s Ford F-150 pickup parked at the end of a fire access road. The truck was searched and there were no signs of foul play, Smyser said.
The search resumed at sunrise Tuesday. Three law-enforcement helicopters operated out of a command post just off the 91, with the help of about 100 search-and-rescue personnel and search dogs.
The Brea Police Department led the search with help from several agencies, including the Los Angeles, Riverside and Orange County sheriff’s departments, the Corona Police Department, the U.S. Forest Service and Cal Fire.
Whitmore said Tombol is survived by his wife, who is a sergeant with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, and a 14-year-old son.
Copyright 2009 Orange County Register