Site search
sponsored by
News
Sports
ENLARGE
Michael Mallory
Editor's note: This story was updated at 10:30 a.m. The original story appears below.
The former owner of Gotta Hava Java — missing since March 2008 — was found alive Wednesday in Southern California, officials said this morning.
Michael Mallory, 52, was located at about 10:30 p.m. as he tried to cross the border from Mexico into the United States, according to a Douglas County Sheriff's Office news release.
Mallory was later released because he is not wanted by the sheriff's office.
“I'm glad he's alive,” said Mallory's mother, Evelyn Mallory, in a phone interview this morning. She said she knew he had been found but hadn't yet spoken to him.
She also said she wasn't surprised by the news, given that a neighbor of her son had told her in July that her son had been seen.
“I got the relief of him being alive,” she added. “Where there's life, there's hope.”
Sheriff's office officials learned of Michael Mallory's whereabouts when they received a call from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials at the San Ysidro port of entry south of San Diego reporting Mallory had been detained. A border patrol officer had found Mallory was entered into a national computer system as a missing person.
According to the border patrol officer, Mallory said he has been living in the San Diego area for the past eight months. He told officials he recently traveled to Mexico and was returning to the United States.
The sheriff's office began a missing person investigation on March 24, 2008, after Mallory's pickup was found, unoccupied, in the early morning over an embankment in the 3700 block of Little River Road in Glide. Searches of the area and the river were conducted, but Mallory was never found.
Over the past year and a half, detectives have continued investigating, following up on various leads and tips from the public.
This will conclude the sheriff's office investigation into the case, the release said.
Deputy Dwes Hutson, sheriff's office spokesman, said his office could potentially charge Mallory with a number of misdemeanors, such as initiating a false report or disorderly conduct in connection to his disappearance.
“But basically, as he's in California and has no intention of coming back, based on what he told the border patrol, we're not spending any more resources on it,” Hutson said.
He added that, should circumstances change over time, the sheriff's office could consider pursuing Mallory in the future. He said the sheriff's office would probably have to talk to him and possibly his wife, Rochelle Mallory, before it could proceed. The sheriff's office has not been able to contact Rochelle Mallory, he added.
The News-Review was unable to contact Rochelle Mallory this morning.
Should Michael Mallory choose to come back to Douglas County, there would be one less complication for him to face than when he left, according to his mother, Evelyn Mallory.
She said she and her husband, Bert, have dropped a lawsuit they had filed against their son and daughter-in-law. In the suit, Evelyn and Bert Mallory had sought about $150,000 they said their son and daughter-in-law owed them after the senior couple sold the Gotta Hava Java business to the younger Mallorys.
“There's nothing for them to give back,” said Evelyn Mallory of the business that closed its remaining coffee stands in October 2008.
“It had gone downhill so bad and so much money was owed,” she said. She said she and her husband live on Social Security and retirement pensions.
“Thousands of dollars were owed by that business,” she said. “We couldn't handle taking it back and trying to pay those bills back.”
The former owner of Gotta Hava Java — missing since March 2008 — was found alive Wednesday in Southern California, officials said this morning.
Michael Mallory, 52, was located at about 10:30 p.m. as he tried to cross the border from Mexico into the United States, according to a Douglas County Sheriff's Office news release.
Mallory was later released because he is not wanted by the sheriff's office.
“I'm glad he's alive,” said Mallory's mother, Evelyn Mallory, in a phone interview this morning. She said she knew he had been found but hadn't yet spoken to him.
She also said she wasn't surprised by the news, given that a neighbor of her son had told her in July that her son had been seen.
“I got the relief of him being alive,” she added. “Where there's life, there's hope.”
Sheriff's office officials learned of Michael Mallory's whereabouts when they received a call from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials at the San Ysidro port of entry south of San Diego reporting Mallory had been detained. A border patrol officer had found Mallory was entered into a national computer system as a missing person.
According to the border patrol officer, Mallory said he has been living in the San Diego area for the past eight months. He told officials he recently traveled to Mexico and was returning to the United States.
The sheriff's office began a missing person investigation on March 24, 2008, after Mallory's pickup was found, unoccupied, in the early morning over an embankment in the 3700 block of Little River Road in Glide. Searches of the area and the river were conducted, but Mallory was never found.
Over the past year and a half, detectives have continued investigating, following up on various leads and tips from the public.
This will conclude the sheriff's office investigation into the case, the release said.
Deputy Dwes Hutson, sheriff's office spokesman, said his office could potentially charge Mallory with a number of misdemeanors, such as initiating a false report or disorderly conduct in connection to his disappearance.
“But basically, as he's in California and has no intention of coming back, based on what he told the border patrol, we're not spending any more resources on it,” Hutson said.
He added that, should circumstances change over time, the sheriff's office could consider pursuing Mallory in the future. He said the sheriff's office would probably have to talk to him and possibly his wife, Rochelle Mallory, before it could proceed. The sheriff's office has not been able to contact Rochelle Mallory, he added.
The News-Review was unable to contact Rochelle Mallory this morning.
Should Michael Mallory choose to come back to Douglas County, there would be one less complication for him to face than when he left, according to his mother, Evelyn Mallory.
She said she and her husband, Bert, have dropped a lawsuit they had filed against their son and daughter-in-law. In the suit, Evelyn and Bert Mallory had sought about $150,000 they said their son and daughter-in-law owed them after the senior couple sold the Gotta Hava Java business to the younger Mallorys.
“There's nothing for them to give back,” said Evelyn Mallory of the business that closed its remaining coffee stands in October 2008.
“It had gone downhill so bad and so much money was owed,” she said. She said she and her husband live on Social Security and retirement pensions.
“Thousands of dollars were owed by that business,” she said. “We couldn't handle taking it back and trying to pay those bills back.”
The former owner of Gotta Hava Java — missing since March 2008 — was found alive Wednesday in Southern California, officials said this morning.
Michael Mallory, 52, was located at about 10:30 p.m. as he tried to cross the border from Mexico into the United States, according to a Douglas County Sheriff's Office news release.
Mallory was later released as he is not wanted by the sheriff's office.
The sheriff's office received a call from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection office at the San Ysidro port of entry south of San Diego reporting that officials there had detained Mallory. A border patrol official found Mallory was entered into a national computer system as a missing person.
According to the border patrol officer, Mallory said he has been living in the San Diego area for the past eight months. He told officials he recently traveled to Mexico and was returning to the United States.
The sheriff's office began a missing person investigation on March 24, 2008, after Mallory's pickup was found in the early morning unoccupied over an embankment in the 3700 block of Little River Road. Searches of the area and the river were conducted but Mallory was never found.
Over the past year and a half, detectives have continued investigating this case, following up on various leads and tips from the public.
This will conclude the sheriff's office investigation into this incident, the release said.
Michael Mallory, 52, was located at about 10:30 p.m. as he tried to cross the border from Mexico into the United States, according to a Douglas County Sheriff's Office news release.
Mallory was later released as he is not wanted by the sheriff's office.
The sheriff's office received a call from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection office at the San Ysidro port of entry south of San Diego reporting that officials there had detained Mallory. A border patrol official found Mallory was entered into a national computer system as a missing person.
According to the border patrol officer, Mallory said he has been living in the San Diego area for the past eight months. He told officials he recently traveled to Mexico and was returning to the United States.
The sheriff's office began a missing person investigation on March 24, 2008, after Mallory's pickup was found in the early morning unoccupied over an embankment in the 3700 block of Little River Road. Searches of the area and the river were conducted but Mallory was never found.
Over the past year and a half, detectives have continued investigating this case, following up on various leads and tips from the public.
This will conclude the sheriff's office investigation into this incident, the release said.
