Family searches for missing SLO County man after dog found dead on Cuesta Grade
Friends, family and the Atascadero Police Department were searching for missing San Luis Obispo County resident Todd Pinion on Thursday.
Pinion, 34, was reported missing to the Atascadero Police Department at 2:30 a.m. on Thursday, his mother Melody Brownell Pinion said.
Atascadero city spokesperson Terrie Banish confirmed the Police Department was searching for Pinion as of Thursday.
He was last seen at the Atascadero McDonald’s in the early morning hours of Oct. 23, Brownell Pinion told The Tribune. He doesn’t own a cell phone, but he often used the restaurant’s WiFi to communicate with people through his Chromebook.
Pinion’s mother said she felt deeply worried when she heard her son was missing.
“I’m living a nightmare,” she said.
Adding to the worry: Pinon’s beloved dog, Spock, was found dead at the base of the Cuesta Grade on Thursday morning.
“How his dog ended up on Cuesta Grade dead is beyond me, because he would never let that dog out of his sight,” she said.
A CHP helicopter flew over the same area on Thursday to look for Pinion, but the officers did not locate him, his mother said.
Pinion is 5’10 and described as slender with long, brown hair. He often wears a leather fox mask and has multiple tattoos, including a fox wrapped around his right arm and a dream catcher on his left arm.
Raised in Atascadero, Pinion graduated from Atascadero High School.
Pinion previously suffered a head injury and has been homeless for about a year, his mother said.
He recently lived in the Salinas Riverbed in Atascadero and in a Paso Robles homeless encampment, where he started doing drugs, she said. His last known residence was in Nipomo.
“It just spiraled ever since,” she said.
She plans to fly to San Luis Obispo County from Oklahoma on Saturday to assist with the search.
Anyone with information about Pinion’s whereabouts can contact the Atascadero Police Department at 805-461-5051 or Melody Pinion at 805-712-9777.
This story was originally published October 31, 2024 at 5:38 PM.
