Missing Mother Was Giving Homeless Man A Ride To His Parole Officer, Family Says

A mother has gone missing after telling a friend she was headed to Simi Valley to drive a homeless man to see his parole officer.Kristin Whitney Ghilardi, a 29-year-old Costco manager and the mother of a 10-year-old boy, has been missing since last Wednesday, KTLA reports. Ghilardi's family said that Ghilardi, who volunteers with a church outreach program to help the homeless, met a homeless man named Patrick on the beach in Ventura earlier this month and offered the man a ride to Simi Valley to meet with his parole officer.

Ghilardi visited her friend, Ashley Boger, at her home in the Canyon County neighborhood of Santa Clarita on Wednesday. She told Boger she was headed to Simi Valley that day, but would be back to pick up her son from daycare. However, Ghilardi never picked up her son, and that's the last any of her friends or family have seen or heard from her.

Ghilardi's family said that she hasn't been answering her cellphone and that calls made to her are going straight to voicemail. Her brother, Anthony Ghilardi, told KTLA that she "doesn't go a day without talking to her son before he goes to bed," and that for her to have gone days without communicating with anyone is unlike her. "She wouldn't do that," he said.

Ghilardi is described as a 29-year-old white woman who is 5'6" and about 140 lbs. with brown eyes and brown eyes. Ghilardi drives a gray, 2006 Toyota Corolla with tinted rear windows and some damage to the front end, license plate 5VLM990. Anyone with information should call the Santa Clarita Sheriff's Station at 661-225-1121.

Update, 6 p.m.: More details have emerged. Ghilardi, who has been missing since Wednesday, took money out of a Chase bank in Northridge on Friday, according to NBC LA. She did not have ID with her when she withdrew the money, but her family did verify her signature.

Ghilardi visited Boger on Wednesday between 2 and 3:30 p.m., then spoke with her mother on the phone at about 7:30 p.m., according to City News Service. She was reported missing on Friday.

Though the photos of Ghilardi that have been distributed by police depict her with long, brown hair, she recently shaved her head due to a medical condition. She frequently wears a bandana or hat.