Leonard Joseph Labarth, a 50-year-old resident of Yuba City, California, was last seen on March 6, 2013, and has not been heard from since. At the time of his disappearance, Labarth was described as a white male, 5'6" tall, weighing 160 pounds, with gray hair and hazel eyes. His distinguishing characteristics included a tattoo of Chinese characters on his left forearm and visible veneers on his teeth.
Official reports from law enforcement agencies provided limited details about the circumstances of his disappearance. However, court documents filed by his wife, Sukhjit Purewal, in July 2013 shed more light on the events leading up to him being reported missing. In her petition to have her husband declared legally dead, Purewal stated that Labarth's locked truck was discovered in a parking lot on the Marin County side of the Golden Gate Bridge. A witness reported to the California Highway Patrol that the truck had been parked there since March 6, the day he was last seen.
Inside the truck, investigators found notes written by Labarth on the back of a printout of directions from his home to the Golden Gate Bridge. Additional notes and a journal discussing suicide were found at his residence. Purewal's court filing also revealed that Labarth had experienced periods of mental disturbance, which had led to several hospitalizations.
Labarth was the former city editor of the Santa Cruz Sentinel and had also served as the editor of the Marysville Appeal-Democrat. He had reportedly been fired from his position in Marysville in 2012. The last time his wife and daughter saw him was on March 5, 2013. Although his body has not been recovered, the evidence found led his wife to seek a declaration of his death. The Yuba City Police Department is the investigating agency for his missing person case.Last Seen: Mar 6, 2013
