COMPTON, Calif. (KTLA) — A Dana Point grandmother who disappeared under suspicious circumstances was found safe in Compton on Thursday morning, police said.
Cheryl Jean Moser, 69, was found unharmed at a gas station just before 4 a.m., according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.
Authorities were continuing to search for an unknown man who was seen with her on surveillance video on Wednesday.
Moser disappeared on Tuesday morning after leaving her home in Dana Point, where she lives with her grandson, family members said.
She was headed to a Verizon store in Highland to see if her wet iPhone could be fixed, but she never returned home.
Also missing was Moser’s silver Toyota Prius and her two small dogs. The car and the dogs were with her when she was found.
Moser’s son, Brian Johnson, said she wanted to go to the store in Highland because she used to live there with his brother, Russ.
The family contacted the sheriff’s department on Tuesday night when they became concerned for her well-being.
“She’s very tired. She hasn’t slept very much,” Johnson told reporters outside the Compton Sheriff’s Station on Thursday.
“So far she seems in pretty good spirits, but we’re just going to get her home and let her rest,” he said.
After Moser was reported missing, detectives began tracking her credit card.
It was used twice on Tuesday night in Van Nuys, then on Wednesday morning in Laguna Beach and on Wednesday afternoon in Pomona, according to investigators.
All of the transactions were at gas station convenience stores.
Moser was captured on surveillance video at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday at a Mobil Station at 104 N. Coast Hwy. in Laguna Beach.
The Mobil cashier said Moser offered to buy the man food after he followed her followed her into the store.
Investigators were trying to determine if Moser left with the man voluntarily.
That man, who was also caught on video, was not known to family members. Police were not calling him a suspect, but said they wanted to locate him.
Anyone with information was urged to call the O.C. Sheriff’s Department at (714) 628-7170.
