The Disappearance of Elijah ‘Bear’ Diaz
For this case I watched an episode Disappeared. It’s season 8 episode 5, titled ‘Every Mother’s Son.’
A 20 year old with severe health conditions disappears on a hot summer night.
Background
Elijah ‘Bear’ Diaz
Elijah was born on August 19, 1995, to parents Steve and Leilani. Elijah has suffered from severe health conditions since he was 6 years old. He was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, and had neuropathy (causes sores and blisters on the feet). He took two kinds of insulin, and was very dependent on it.
Elijah’s heath affected his life significantly. His life revolved around doctors visits, and having to miss school and social events. Elijah had to miss so much school, but his parents finally told him to just get his GED. Elijah and his mom were very close, but when he turned 18, he wanted some independence.
Elijah had a very active social life, and his mom explained that he just wanted to be normal. Before he disappeared, he purchased his first house in El Cajon, California, with his trust fund from the Barona Native American Tribe. He had frequent guests over, and was enjoying his new lifestyle.
The Disappearance
On August 29, 2015, Elijah and his mom Leilani, were driving home from a funeral. He was having a bad health day, and his mom said he was very agitated and seemed angry. Leilani told him to watch some TV and things would be better tomorrow. Leilani left the house to drive 20 minutes to her home on the Barona Native American reservation. She sent Elijah a text message when she got home, and he told her he loved her. This was the last message Leilani received from him.
On August 30, Leilani texted Elijah several times to talk about their brief fight from the previous night. He never answered her, and she became very concerned. Leilani drove over to his house around 3:30pm, and saw that his car was in the driveway. At first she thought he might have hurt himself. Elijah’s brother Jacob had killed himself a few years prior.
Leilani didn’t find Elijah dead, but she did find some bizarre things. The flat screen TV was missing, his bed was stripped, the blankets and pillows were on the floor and the safe was open and empty. Leilani knew that he had about $7,000 in that safe, so she was now even more worried. Elijah had also taken his backpack, crutches and phone.
Leilani tried calling Elijah several more times, but there was still no answer. In the weeks before he disappeared, Elijah and his mom spent even more time together. This was due to Elijah’s declining health.
The Search
The next day Elijah had several appointments, and he never showed up to them. Leilani went to the police to file a missing persons report. She knew that he only had a few weeks worth of insulin, so she reached out to Elijah’s friends and put the information out on Facebook.
The following weekend was an event that Elijah and his family loved. It was a powwow at the reservation, and Elijah had never missed one before. However, he didn’t show up.
A week after Elijah disappeared, the police finally got involved. They went over to the home to take pictures and check for signs of a struggle. There was nothing found, but the police also took note of the strange appearance of Elijah’s bedroom. They also knew that based on the information about Elijah’s health, there is no way that he would’ve been able to carry a large TV alone. The police believed that Elijah left with someone that he knew.
Suspicious Activity
The police didn’t have a lot to go on, but they did obtain Elijah’s phone and bank records. At 1:29am, Elijah’s phone pinged at the Barona reservation, at the casino. 29 minutes later, his phone pinged in Santa Ysabel, a small town near the San Diego mountains.
The police decided to do a search out in the mountains. The area was very rugged, and full of wild animals like coyotes and bobcats.
The San Diego police helped with a helicopter search, but they said that there was no sign that any human was even in the mountains. The case stalled, but Leilani was determined to find out what happened to her son.
Another Missing Person
The day after Elijah went missing, another 20 year old named Skyler Peterson Tosic went missing. Skyler had been in contact with his mom Olivia, and told her that he was hiking with friends named Thaddeus and Eli. Olivia said she didn’t know anyone by those names, but that she was happy that Skylar found friends.
On the day Skylar went missing, he was talking to his grandma and mom’s boyfriend. Olivia was also there, and she went inside for a few brief minutes. When she came back out, Skylar was gone. That same night, around 8pm, Olivia received a weird message from him talking about two rich girls that had connections to a passport. After seeing this, Olivia believed Skylar joined a cult.
Through her investigation, Olivia learned that two days before Skylar had taken an Uber, and that the Uber dropped him off near San Pasquale Academy. Skylar had also asked for a flashlight and toilet paper. He left his wallet and ID at home, but took his phone and charger.
Olivia found out about Elijah’s case after searching for Eli and Thaddeus. She first thought that Elijah could be Eli, but the police said that they didn’t believe the two disappearances weren’t connected. The only thing connecting them was how they looked. They both were skinny men, and had dark hair, and seemed to vanish in thin air.
Skylar Tosic
Where are they?
There’s really not out there about this case, there are still no answers for either of them.
On October 17, 2015, An unidentified body was found at Lake Hodges. This lake is between El Cajon and El Escondido, where Skylar is from. The remains ended up being those of a female.
In November 2015, Leilani became the conservator of Elijah’s house. She was legally allowed to ask the roommates to leave, and she made the house her search headquarters.
Steven Diaz, Elijah’s dad, died from a heart attack in May 2016.
Olivia believes Skylar joined a cult, and is hoping that he’s still alive.
FINAL THOUGHTS
For Skylar’s case, it does seem like he maybe joined a cult or wanted to start a new life. This case was more about Elijah, so it didn’t go into depth about his home life.
For Elijah, I think money and greed was the motive. Elijah had a lot of money, and this episode said that he would often pay for new things for him and his friends. I think his roommates or new friends had something to do with it. He started hanging out with them as soon as he moved in on his own, and this happens. If this is the case, they took advantage of someone who had dealt with illness his whole life, and just wanted a normal life.
I hope that both Skylar and Elijah’s cases are solved someday.
Sources
https://charleyproject.org/case/elijah-runningbear-diaz
https://charleyproject.org/case/skylar-gregory-peterson-tosic
https://www.escondidograpevine.com/2019/02/11/missing-student-skylar-tosic-still-unfound/
