Search Under Way for Missing Santee Man

The search for a Santee resident who disappeared in Big Bear over the Thanksgiving weekend has turned up empty, according to his father.

Bryson Lukacik, 22, was staying with his father, Joe Lukacik, and his father's girlfriend in a vacation cabin on Balsam Drive at Big Bear Lake.

His son fell from a chairlift and hit his head while snowboarding but didn’t tell his family until later.  He also told his dad “I need my car keys. I gotta go to work,” and talked about surfing.

“He said, we’ve got to get going, where's my bed. Then, at that point, I knew that something was wrong," Joe Lukacik said.
 
His son wandered out of the cabin overnight and his family wasn’t able to find him.

"I never thought in a million years that I'd be passing out flyers looking for my son. And as a dad, you're trying to be positive, but this is day number 6," he said.

Joe Lukacik said about 60 people gathered Thursday morning at a Big Bear hotel and took part in the search effort. Others were also searching at the bottom of the hill.

"It was like he fell off the face of the earth. He was nowhere to be found," Joe Lukacik said.

San Bernardino County sheriff deputies have also searched the Big Bear area and looked at surveillance footage from the San Bernardino bus station. Lukacik was not seen in any of the footage.

Detectives are now passing out flyers in San Bernardino and asking for surveillance footage from other businesses.

"Bryson, if you're watching this, we just want you to come home and we love you and we miss you. We just want you to come home. It’s going to be okay," said his girlfriend Holly Dargavell.

A few inches of snow fell after Lukacik disappeared, but it wouldn't be enough to "cover a body," deputies said.

"All I want for my family is closure. I don't want to have to wake up every morning not knowing where my brother is. Dead or alive," said his brother Nick Lukacik.

Anyone with information is asked to call the sheriff's office at (909) 866-0100.

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