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Search for missing man enters fifth day

The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department, along with myriad search and rescue teams from around the Bay Area, are wrapping up their fifth day of searching for a Sacramento man who disappeared into Annadel State Park on Saturday. The man was described by family members as “despondent” and has a history of mental illness, although is not thought to be dangerous.

With approval from his family, law enforcement officials have identified the man as Jason Kyles, 34, who is 6-foot, 6-inches tall, weighs 185 pounds and has sandy brown hair.

“We do believe he’s still unclothed,” said Sonoma Police Chief Bret Sackett, who explained that the clothes Kyles was last seen wearing were found on Monday nearby where he’s entered Annadel State Park. The find lends credence to a sighting by a teen bicyclist who said he saw a man matching Kyles description nude and chanting in the park on Saturday.

On Tuesday, more than 50 search and rescue personnel discovered hand and footprints that could belong to the missing man.

“The sightings of where these foot prints and hand prints were was a fair distance from where he was last seen, if they are in fact his handprints,” Sackett said. “He’s moving, he’s mobile.”

Sackett said there is concern for Kyles well-being as nighttime temperatures have dropped to the high 30s this week, but the hand and footprints were estimated to be no more than 48 hours old, giving hope that he’s found a way to stave off the cold. Search dogs also detected his scent in and around a bathroom in the park, where he could have found warmth from the elements.

As the footprints were found nearby where Annadel borders Oakmont, Kyles’ family spent Wednesday passing out fliers in the retirement community in case he left the park.

“I’ll head back up there (to Annadel) at the end of the day to confer with the search experts,” Sackett said Wednesday afternoon. “We’ll figure out the plan for tomorrow at that point.”