Malibu Rescue Team Searches for Man Who May
Have Wanted to End His Life
When a Sheriff’s Department Search
and Rescue Team goes out on a call, the deputies are prepared
for difficult finds. When they are forewarned that someone has
headed into rough terrain and may plan to take his life, they
steel themselves for the worst.
Friends of Kevin Gale reported him missing
on May 27. They say they had reasons to be concerned. The
solidly-built 50+year-old surfer had talked about committing
suicide in phone calls he made May 20. Gale’s
identical twin brother had hung himself a year ago. A
friend of his says he told family members he had a gun and a
sword.
Even though Gale spent a great deal of time
in Malibu, he resided in Santa Monica and the missing
person report had to be filed with the police there.
A friend in the Serra Retreat area
thinks she is the last person to hear from Gale. He called her
on Tuesday, May 27. Jill Wojahn, who says she has known him for
the over 20 years that they were both airlines flight
attendants, somberly notes that “he sounded
depressed.”
Wojahn and other friends of Gale prodded
authorities for more search efforts. Last weekend, a
search and rescue crew from the Lost Hills Sheriff’s
Station conducted an intensive field operation in areas
surrounding Serra Retreat.
Wojahn says Gale’s car was found
parked on the land side of Pacific Coast Highway across from
the pier, which she thinks is puzzling if he was going to visit
her.
She adds that if he decided to go into a
wildland area, he might have taken the Serra Canyon Loop trail
or hiked from the Cross Creek trailhead. He knew both areas.
That’s where searchers concentrated.
A helicopter crew reportedly made GPS
contact with Gale’s cell phone over the weekend and
believes it was within a quarter-mile radius of it, but
then the signal stopped.
Efforts to learn whether calls were placed
on the phone after he was reported missing were unsuccessful,
Wojahn says. “We were told only law enforcement
agencies get this information.”
On Wednesday, June 11, a group of friends,
including several surfing buddies, plan their own hiking party.
They say, “[We] hope to find his backpack, a sock,
anything to provide a clue.”
Wojahn says Gale’s family lives on
Long Island. On May 20, they and friends received an e-mail
from him that said, “[People] are there for the reason
you need them, [but what] we must realize is when our need has
been met, our desire fulfilled, their work is done [and] it is
time to move on.”
Wojahn says, “We want to see Kevin
walk out of the wilderness and say that he needed some time
alone.” She adds that she remains hopeful
because he paid his June rent.
Gale is believed to have been wearing
casual clothing, such as shorts and a flannel shirt. “He
had survival skills,” Wojahn says. “He could make
it.”
The investigation remains under the
direction of the Santa Monica Police Department. Anyone
who may have seen Gale on March 27, or later, is requested to
call Detective John Henry at 310-458-8978. Information can also
be relayed to 310-456-1803.
