BY EMILY MIBACH
Daily Post Staff Writer
An East Palo Alto police official said yesterday (Nov. 6) that the disappearance of a high school student last month does not seem to be forced.
The student, Jonathan “Jonny” Bedolla, 17, of East Palo Alto, was last seen on Oct. 26, according to Cmdr. Jerry Alcaraz.
That was when Bedolla was leaving his job at the Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto.
Alcaraz said that police don’t suspect foul play was involved in Bedolla’s disappearance.
“Right now, we’re hoping he comes home,” Alcaraz said.
Two detectives have been working on the case. People have called in possible Bedolla sightings around the area, one at a motel and another at San Gregorio
State Beach, Alcaraz said, but no sightings have been confirmed.
The last time police were able to “ping” Bedolla’s phone, it may have been in the area of the Menlo Park Caltrain station. However, Alcaraz said it is not clear whether that is where the phone actually was.
According to Alcaraz, the two detectives also have found out about a trend in which teens will try to go “off the grid” for a week or more, and then just come home.
“They’re looking at all possibilities,” Alcaraz said.
Bedolla, who attended Junipero Serra High School in San Mateo, had worked with East Palo Alto Mayor Larry Moody for the past two or three summers while he
volunteered at the St. Francis of Assisi’s Youth Club.
“He’s an asset to the community, and we’re all taken aback by it,” Moody said.
Bedolla’s mother reported him missing after she repeatedly called and texted her son, all to no avail. Anyone with information may call police at (650) 853-3160.
