Officials Searching for Man Missing Since Weekend

ROSSMOOR —  Sheriff’s officials in Orange and San Bernardino counties are looking for a 30-year-old Rossmoor man who left to camp last weekend in the Mojave Desert and never returned or called to tell his family where he was.

Eric Carleton Knight lives with his mother and father in Rossmoor and is an accomplished camper who often takes trips alone, his father told officials. He left Saturday morning and was expected to return Sunday night.

He didn’t come home or show up for work Monday, prompting his father to call authorities. Sheriff’s Department officials say they have no reason to suspect foul play.

Knight left home in his dark-blue Jeep Cherokee, license plate 2JCU796, sheriff’s officials said. He was wearing a T-shirt, jeans and tennis shoes and had appropriate camping gear with him.

On Saturday, Knight used his gasoline credit card in Ludlow, but officials have not been able to find anyone who has seen him since, said San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Sgt. Jake Jecusco

The San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department has been searching desert areas where Knight has previously camped, using vehicles and helicopters since Tuesday, Jecusco said.

“We have had our helicopters checking some of the areas that he has frequented in the past, but just in the Barstow area, there is 10,000 square miles of desert,” he said. “Without knowing what his destination is, we don’t have any place to start looking. We’re just doing cursory searches by air looking for his vehicle.”