“We love him, and we miss him,” Gavin Ryan told Dateline. “He has a purpose with us and our family.”
Gavin’s father, John Ryan, has been missing for a month. The 75-year-old was last seen on September 12, 2025, in Orange County, California.
“We’re all still waiting for him,” John’s wife, Julie Ryan, added.
Julie and John have been married for 51 years. “He was kind and sweet, and sometimes could be a little grumpy,” Julie told Dateline. “He had a really fun personality — just really nice to be around.”
The pair met in Salt Lake City, Utah, where they raised their four children. Gavin is the middle child. He describes his father as an avid sports fan who loves to take care of others. “Always up to date with sporting events and sometimes current events,” he said. “A huge heart. Rough and tumble — a fun, kind person.”
But most of all, they say that John loved his work. “He’s been a builder most of his life,” Gavin said. “Master carpenter, crafts — all things home.”
After John retired, he and Julie moved to Laguna Beach, where they’ve been living for the past four and a half years. “Really enjoy it. It’s beautiful here,” Julie said.
While Julie welcomed California living, Gavin says the transition was a bit harder on his father. “I think he’s had a struggle with the whole retirement thing,” he said.
On September 11, Gavin went to visit his parents in Orange County. “I was in L.A. for work, and I thought it would be nice — because I live in Salt Lake, I thought it would be nice to go down and visit them,” he said.
Gavin says he had breakfast with his parents the next morning and then drove back to L.A. “Had a great time with him,” he said.
Julie says that after her son left, she went to get groceries. “[John] helped me in with them, and everything seemed OK,” she recalled. “And then I went with a friend for a while, and when I came back, he wasn’t there.”
Julie told Dateline that at first, she wasn’t alarmed. “I didn’t really think much about it because he would go and take long walks on his own all the time,” she said. “But then it started to be a little longer than I thought. And so I kind of looked around, and he had put his wallet, his phone, and his watch — that he never takes off — on his bedside table.”
Julie looked around more and said she also noticed John had left behind his knee brace and the shoes he normally walks in. “That’s when I knew something was wrong,” she said.
Julie called a friend who helped her search for her husband, but they found no sign of him. “So we called the police, and that’s when they started their search,” she said.
Gavin says that on the evening of September 12, he flew back to Utah from L.A. and received a concerning call from his mother. “I knew something was wrong because my mom doesn’t normally call me at that time. It was right when I was getting ready for bed,” he recalled. Gavin says after receiving the news about his father, he and his siblings hopped on a flight to Orange County the next morning — where a search was already underway.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Department is investigating the case. Dateline spoke with Sergeant Gerard McCann who says John was last seen leaving his home in Laguna Niguel on Friday, September 12.
The sheriff’s department initially canvassed the area with both deputies and investigators, employing a helicopter, drones, and bloodhounds during the search. “We had several iterations of our search and rescue searching the surrounding area, including rappelling into remote areas to look for him in the canyon area near his residence. We’ve also listed him on the DOJ as a missing person,“ McCann said. They also issued a Silver Alert.
According to Sgt. McCann, officers were able to retrieve Ring footage that captured John walking in the neighborhood around 2 p.m. the day he disappeared. “Dogs followed his scent up to the top of the street, but then they lost it there,” Julie said.
The sheriff’s department does not know at this time if foul play is involved in John’s disappearance.
While the family also isn’t sure what exactly happened to John, Gavin says that in the past couple of years, his father has exhibited some signs of depression. “He just kind of became not his normal talkative self,” he said. “Still really friendly and pleasant, but just kind of withdrawn.”
Julie says that just a few years ago, John left a note indicating he was having dark thoughts. “I got him to the hospital, but because he had COVID, they didn’t want to keep him,” she said. Ultimately, she doesn’t believe John ever got the help he needed.
Julie believes her husband may no longer be alive. “I don’t feel like he’s still here,” she said.
Still, the family won’t give up the search. “It seems like the community has really cared about this, which has been really nice for us living in a different state,” Gavin said. “It’s just one of those things — it’s like, where do we go with this? Do we look at investigators? It’s just — it’s hard to find that peace and comfort in a missing person situation. It’s something that you can never prepare for.”
Gavin remains hopeful that his father will return home. “It’s just like he vanished,” he said. “We just want to reach out to him and give him a big hug and say, ‘It’s OK.’”
John is 6’0” and 180 lbs. He was last seen wearing a white T-shirt, dark shorts, white socks, and navy shoes. His family says he’s in good physical shape.
Anyone with information about John’s disappearance is asked to call the Orange County Sheriff’s Department at 714-647-7000.
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