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Robert Korda was supposed to leave his Van Nuys home for a gig at Sunset Gower studios in Hollywood Thursday morning, but he never showed up.
By that afternoon, his family, who does not live with him, became worried and began looking into the matter. Korda was last seen the day before and with no clues of his whereabouts, Korda's son Noah made a police report at 10 p.m., followed by blogging and twittering about his father.
"I dont know where to begin. PLEASE HELP. MY FATHER IS MISSING," Noah titled a blog post. "I know this is going to sound like another bogus chain email but I assure you that it is not. I personally dont know how I am keeping it together at the moment. My father has gone missing and I need help. I know that sometimes sending out messages like this can help locate people. I am asking for any help at this point. Someone might have seen him."
When Noah woke up the next morning, traffic increased on his blogs, tweets went out and some of his friends began replacing their photos with Korda's. The LAPD sent out later in the day media outlets began to talk about what happened.
The 69-year-old Korda, who played with the Los Angeles Philharmonic for about 20 years, is described as a white male with grey hair and brown eyes. He was wearing glasses and a goatee. He stands 5 feet 5 inches and weighs approximately 135 pounds. It is unknown what type of clothing Korda was wearing when he went missing. He lives on the 6500 block of Greenbush Avenue and his car, a 1993 Chevy Geo Metro with California license plate 3GPJ453, is also gone.
The latest could-be clue is with Verizon, Korda's cell phone provider. If a cell phone is turned on, a signal can be triangulated. However, Verizon says they cannot turn over the information. "The problem is that the world we live in, we live in sue nation," explained Noah who frustratingly understands that if police demand a warrant of if Verizon hands over the data willingly, it could open them up to privacy lawsuits. Because there is no compelling evidence indicating foul play is involved in the disappearance, the possibility looms that Korda skipped town on his own.
Korda's car
Noah, family and friends, however, whole heartedly believe something is wrong. Police do, too. Follow Noah's blog here and anyone who may have seen or has information about Korda is encouraged to contact LAPD’s Missing Persons Unit at (213) 485-5381. During off-hours, calls may be directed to a 24-hour, toll-free number at 1-877-LAPD-24-7 (527-3247).
Callers may also text “Crimes” with a cell phone or log on to www.lapdonline.org and click on Web tips. When using a cell phone, all messages should begin with “LAPD.” Tipsters may remain anonymous.
