Congress has cut federal funding for public media — a $3.4 million loss for LAist. We count on readers like you to protect our nonprofit newsroom. Become a monthly member and sustain local journalism.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Nurse And Former Reality Contestant Missing After Attending Birthday Party
Lisa Marie Naegle. The image on the right is a still from surveillance footage from the night she disappeared. (Photo via Facebook)
()
Police are looking for a nurse and former reality show contestant who disappeared after attending a birthday party in Torrance on Saturday night. Lisa Marie Naegle, 36, of San Pedro may be familiar to fans of Bridalplasty, a 2010 E! reality show that stared 12 women all competing to win plastic surgery and their perfect wedding. Naegle made it to the seventh episode of the 10-episode series. Naegle now works as a registered nurse.
On Saturday night, Naegle told her husband, Derek Harryman, she was going to a friend's 40th birthday party at Alpine Village Restaurant in Torrance, KTLA reports. At about 2:30 a.m. on Sunday morning, Naegle called her husband and told him she was leaving the party and would be home after picking up something to eat. Harryman said she sounded "really, really drunk," on the phone, according to the Daily Breeze. Harryman went to sleep, but found the house empty when he awoke in the morning. Not only had Naegle never returned home, but she also failed to show up to teach her scheduled nursing classes at West Los Angeles College on Sunday.
Harryman said that his wife did not drive to the party herself, and that her car remains at home. But how she left the party is somewhat murky. Her family believes that she left the party with a male nursing student, according to ABC 7. Naegle's sister, Danielle Naegle-Kaimona, told ABC 7 that a friend sent her photos of her sister and the student at the party, and surveillance footage from the restaurant shows the pair getting into a black SUV together. Other surveillance footage indicates that they stopped at a gas station. Yet Naegle-Kaimona also said that the student changed his story to imply that he did not leave the party with her sister. Another version of events has the student claiming Naegle wanted to go to an after-party, but that he did not attend the party with her.
Harryman said he tried to active the Find My iPhone app on her phone remotely, but was not able to do so. Calling Naegle's phone goes straight to voicemail.
Support for LAist comes from
Harryman told KTLA that it's unlike his wife to miss work and not call anyone, and her sister said that Naegle is the kind of person who frequently "checks in," so it's odd that she hasn't.
"[Naegle] is a caring, loving, responsible person who is very dedicated to her husband, her family and her friends. This is highly unlike her to not be in contact with her family, specifically not coming home. She would never miss work," Justin Sukeena, a friend Harryman's, tells LAist.
Police have questioned one man in connection to Naegle's disappearance at this time, according to NBC Los Angeles. He is not being considered a suspect, but a person of interest at this time.
Naegle's family has since created a Facebook page to help find her. Lisa Marie Naegle is 5'6" and about 145 pounds with ash blonde hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a black top, cream skirt, black tights and black shoes. Anyone with information should contact the LAPD Harbor Division at 310-726-7700.
As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone.
Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.
We rely on donations from readers like you to stay independent, which keeps our nonprofit newsroom strong and accountable to you.
No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, press freedom is at the core of keeping our nation free and fair. And as the landscape of free press changes, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust, but the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news from our community.
Please take action today to support your trusted source for local news with a donation that makes sense for your budget.
Thank you for your generous support and believing in independent news.
Chip in now to fund your local journalism
(
LAist
)
Trending on LAist
-
With less to prove than LA, the city is becoming a center of impressive culinary creativity. -
Nearly 470 sections of guardrailing were stolen in the last fiscal year in L.A. and Ventura counties.
-
Monarch butterflies are on a path to extinction, but there is a way to support them — and maybe see them in your own yard — by planting milkweed.
-
With California voters facing a decision on redistricting this November, Surf City is poised to join the brewing battle over Congressional voting districts.
-
The drug dealer, the last of five defendants to plead guilty to federal charges linked to the 'Friends' actor’s death, will face a maximum sentence of 65 years in prison.
-
The weather’s been a little different lately, with humidity, isolated rain and wind gusts throughout much of Southern California. What’s causing the late-summer bout of gray?
Best of LAist