Body found in California park believed to be runner missing for nearly a month, cops say

Summer Lin
·2 min read

A body believed to be Philip Kreycik, who disappeared nearly a month ago while running in Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park in California, was found in the park Tuesday, according to authorities.

Kreycik went for a 6- to 8-mile run on the morning of July 10 and left his wallet and phone inside his car. He didn’t return home.

Kreycik’s wife phoned police hours after Kreycik was supposed to come back, KRON4 reported.

A volunteer searcher found a body around 2:30 p.m. Tuesday off a trail in the park and police said it’s believed to be Kreycik, NBC Bay Area reported.

“We’ll do a positive identification, but everything leads us to believe that it’s likely that we did find Philip up there on the ridge,” Alameda County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Ray Kelly said, according to the station. “Obviously, his family is forefront in our thoughts and prayers right now.”

East Bay Regional Park District Police Department Capt. Lance Brede said the body was not “readily visible from the trail” and was far from any trail, SFGate reported.

“We believe that Philip was located in a very remote area of the park,” Brede said, according to SFGate. “It is not a designated trail. He was located 250 yards off the trail, near a tree.”

Pleasanton Police Lt. Chris Niederhaus said over the weekend that police “100% covered where he could’ve been, should’ve been or would likely show up,” according to the publication.

The official search for Kreycik was called off last month after authorities couldn’t find him, although volunteers continued to search, McClatchy News reported. The Alameda County Sheriff’s Office and Pleasanton Police Department said Friday that they would start looking for Kreycik again.

Police said they were worried because temperatures reached triple digits the day Kreycik disappeared and search teams, including scent hounds, were called to look for him, according to NBC Bay Area.

Search teams looked for Kreycik at Niles Canyon near Sunol after a family there said they heard a scream for help from the canyon, but a search yielded nothing, The Mercury News reported.