Father and son were supposed to sail from Goleta to Hawaii. They haven’t been seen since
The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office, in cooperation with the U.S Coast Guard and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, has requested the public’s assistance in locating a missing father and son after the pair planned to sail to Hawaii from the Goleta area in June.
Gerald “Storm” Talifero, 68, and his son, Adagio “Dag” Talifero, 14, presumably set sail from Goleta Beach to Hawaii in June, said Kelly Hoover, a sheriff’s spokeswoman.
Officials believe they were possibly stopping in San Diego before heading to Hawaii on the sailboat.
“The sailing trip to Hawaii was only meant to last a few weeks, and was meant to be one-way since the pair had airline tickets to return to California at the beginning of September,” Hoover said. “Neither Gerald nor Adagio showed up for their return flights, nor does it appear the flights were ever rescheduled.”
While the county Sheriff’s Office is the primary law enforcement agency for the missing person investigation due to the pair’s last known location, Hoover said, they are travelers who don’t have a specific place they called home.
Most recently, they were staying in Camptonville, California, at a friend’s farm, before several trips were made back and forth to Santa Barbara, Ojai and Arizona.
As of Wednesday afternoon, no information was available regarding the boat’s owner, the name of the vessel, or the vessel registration number.
Investigators think the boat the duo was sailing either belongs to friends or was contracted to Gerald to sail on behalf of the owner.
“Speculation among those who were close to Gerald is the boat originated from either Washington state or California’s Bay Area,” Hoover said.
Anyone with information regarding Gerald and Adagio’s whereabouts, or any information related to the boat or its owner, is asked to call the sheriff’s Criminal Investigations Division at 805-681-4150, or email Detective Travis Henderson at tjh3806@sbsheriff.org.