University of Pennsylvania student, Blaze Bernstein, has been missing since he walked into the Whiting Ranch Wilderness Area on Tuesday, January 2, 2018. He had just returned home to Foothill Ranch, California, following the conclusion of the fall semester. The student’s disappearance remains a mystery. A major search effort has been initiated by law enforcement, while friends and family have set up a Facebook page in the hopes to find the missing pre-med student. The family of Bernstein has also used private drones in an attempt to track him down. But so far, no one has found Blaze Bernstein.
The friends and family of 19-year-old Blaze Bernstein don’t have a clue why he wanted to go inside Whiting Ranch Wilderness Area and Borrego Park. “Our son, Blaze Bernstein, has been missing since the late evening of Tuesday January 2nd, 2018. He was last seen at Borrego Park near our home in Foothill Ranch, CA (Lake Forest),” Blaze’s father, Gideon Bernstein, wrote on Facebook.
The University of Pennsylvania sophomore was last seen on Tuesday, January 2, 2018. He reportedly asked a friend to drive him to the wilderness area. He also left many important belongings, such as his wallet, ID, glasses, money, and medications.
“And the fact that he didn’t tell us he was going out tells us he wasn’t planning to be gone very long,” said Bernstein’s mother. “And he left behind his wallet, ID, money, glasses and medications he takes every day.”
According to the Orange County Register, Blaze and his friend went to the wilderness park so that he could “meet a third person. The person’s identity and the reason for the meeting wasn’t known.”
The Orange County Sheriff’s Department sent out a special bulletin on January 5, labeling Blaze N. Bernstein “a missing person.” The bulletin says, Blaze Bernstein was last seen at approximately 11 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 2, entering Borrego Park in Foothill Ranch. Bernstein is in Orange County on winter break from the University of Pennsylvania. Witnesses said he met up with a friend and the two drove to Borrego Park, where the teen exited the vehicle and entered the park. The 19-year-old has not been seen or heard from since.”
Anyone with any information regarding the whereabouts of Blaze N. Bernstein is urged to call the Orange County Sheriff’s Department at 714-647-7000 or submit an anonymous tip to Crime Stoppers at 855-TIP-OCCS.
Who is Blaze Bernstein?
Blaze N. Bernstein is a 19-year-old pre-med at the University of Pennsylvania, according to The Los Angeles Times. However, according to the Orange County Register, Blaze is a sophomore “planning to declare a major in psychology with a minor in chemistry” to pursue pre-med.
His father, Gideon Bernstein, spoke with the Orange County newspaper and told them that Blaze “recently became managing editor of the foodie magazine at the University of Pennsylvania, called Penn Appetit.”
“He is considered a missing person,” his father wrote on Facebook. “We believe that he may just be hiding / staying somewhere close by. He was with a high school friend prior to his disappearance and we believe he was planning to come back home that night since he left his wallet and glasses at home. There is no clear motive and he was in good spirits that evening.”
The Facebook page titled “Help Us Find Blaze Bernstein” describes the 19-year-old as someone who is “5’8″ and 130 lbs, with light brown hair and blue eyes. He was wearing pants, white Adidas laced tennis shoes, and a charcoal gray long-sleeved top.”
On January 7, Blaze’s father wrote an update on the Facebook page set up to help locate his son. He said that the family was on their fifth night without Blaze and that he would have looked forward to going back to school. “This is Blaze’s family. We wanted to update you on the ongoing search for Blaze. We are now on the 5th night of Blaze’s disappearance. He was supposed to fly out tomorrow morning back to UPENN in Philadelphia. We know Blaze would have loved to be on that flight back to school.”
When was the last time anyone has seen/heard from Blaze Bernstein?
Blaze Bernstein was last seen by his friend on Tuesday, January 5, 2018. He entered Whiting Ranch Wilderness Area and Borrego Park and seemingly vanished into thin air. According to The Orange County Register, Blaze last “sent a text message at 9:30 p.m. Tuesday with his family’s address so a high school friend could pick him up and take him to the park to meet the third person.”
Blaze entered the park by himself.
“Bernstein’s friend eventually began sending text messages to him when he didn’t return, but did not hear back from him… The friend left and then returned at 4 a.m. to look for Bernstein again,” according to The Orange County Register.
The newspaper noted that “the location device on Bernstein’s phone stopped functioning and the phone was turned off at 11:30 p.m.”
