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Hollywood Man Vanishes While Driving Up Coast To Seattle

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — A Hollywood man has mysteriously vanished as he drove up the coast from Los Angeles to Seattle, and friends are retracing his steps hoping someone can provide a clue as to where he might be.

Joe Buissink says Leroy Chilton is his dearest and oldest friend as the two met in elementary school in 1962.

"Without fail, he's never late. Ever. And he always shows up. Where he says he's going to show up, he shows up," Buissink said of Chilton, 64.

But Saturday, Chilton didn't show up at a friend's house in Washington.

He had left L.A. June 15 in a gray Honda S2000 and planned a five-day coastal road trip to Washington along Highway 1 through Big Sur, Fort Bragg and the Avenue of the Giants.

Buissink says Chilton's second day out of L.A. at Fort Bragg is where he last used his credit card for a motel.

That's where the paper trail drops off, according to CBS2's Louisa Hodge, who says Chilton is missing nearly two weeks later.

"I didn't know what to do. I was like, 'What do you do when somebody's missing?' I felt hopeless," said Dean McCoy, another friend of Chilton's.

Chilton's friends from across the country took to social media to ask for help and filed a nationwide missing-persons report.

Police and sheriff's departments up and down the coast from Fort Bragg to L.A. have been notified, along with rangers, park services and the California Highway Patrol.

However, there is no trace of Chilton.

His friends say they won't stop campaigning until they find out what happened.

"We're all trying to pitch in to try and bring our brother home," Buissink said. "At least find him, and I know time is of the essence."

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