The Dispatch will be on Spring hiatis for about five weeks while ‘Ed’ recharges and catches up on deferred duties. Thanks to readers for the break.

Letters and comments from readers will continue to be moderated and posted during the break.

I live in Mission Viejo and my home was targeted and burglarized by crooks. They tracked me down on Craigslist because I had an $8,000 bike for sale. Then they burglarized my garage as my family slept inside. Similar burglaries are described in a L.A. Times article.

When I reported it to the OCSD, they were unaware of any other burglaries in the area targeting bicycles. I have since spoken to the LA Sheriff Department and they said that these guys preyed heavily in South Orange County. If anyone else in MV was victimized by them I would encourage them to call Detective Marc King @ LASD 562-946-7994 or email him at MBKing@lasd.com to provide more information for their investigation.

James Thomas

A 3-year-old girl was found Wednesday evening about 9:30 p.m. crying for her mommy in a parking lot on California Court in Mission Viejo [Map].

The child led Sheriff’s deputies to her home, where the front door was open. No one responded so deputies entered and found the mother in a locked master bedroom. The woman exited a bathroom after making several rapid toilet flushes, according to MV Police Services.

Officers smelled narcotics so drug investigators were summoned. After obtaining a warrant, heroin, methadone, and drug paraphernalia were found, and the woman was arrested.

The child was taken to Orangewood Home for care. Her father is currently in a drug rehab program.

Jose Gonzales

A Mission Viejo native and double murder suspect is being sought by Las Vegas Police, who advise he is armed and dangerous.

Jose Alejandro Gonazales, 22, is wanted in the killing of two men at a home in North Las Vegas. Two women were also injured with multiple gunshot wounds to the upper body and head, according to the Las Vegas Sun.

Another individual has been arrested and charged, but Gonzales, also known as “Smokey” or “Jose Diaz,” is still at large. He may be driving a gray Dodge Intrepid. He has a tattoo on his chest “Forgive me mother for my crazy life.”

Anyone with information can call the North Las Vegas Police Department at 702-633-9111 or Crime Stoppers at 702-385-5555, to remain anonymous.

Lauren Pum, Trinity University President Dennis Ahlburg

Mission Viejo’s Lauren Pum was recently honored at Trinity University’s 11th Student Leadership Awards ceremony in San Antonio for her volunteer achievements.

Pum graduated from Capistrano Valley High School in 2009 after previously attending Mission Viejo Christian School. At Capo she was involved with the Acres of Love Program, which provided care, love and hope for abandoned and HIV positive babies and children.

University President Dennis Ahlburg conferred the Unsung Hero Award for Pum’s leadership, loyalty and selfless devotion to the College and Community. Lauren has served on the Directorship of the Trinity University Volunteer Action Community, often working behind the scenes on large undertakings. She was also a leader in the San Antonio Volunteer Effort, recruiting and placing College volunteers to help the San Antonio Community.

Lauren will graduate in December, one semester early, with a major in History. She plans to return for a Master of Arts Degree in Teaching. Her parents are Joseph and Cathy Pum. She has two younger siblings, David and Amy.

A burglar took prescription drugs after breaking  into a CVS Drug store after midnight on Thursday. The store is located in the Marketplace Center on Los Alisos near the 241 Toll Road. 

A surveillance camera showed a 30-40-something black male, similar in appearance to a man who broke in and took painkillers at CAL-Med Pharmacy on Marguerite Parkway, according to the OCR.  That incident occurred last summer.

No  one  has   ever  purchased  a  lottery ticket in Mission Viejo that won a million dollars or more. It’s not because MV retailers are uniquely unlucky sellers, because the same is true for the neighboring cities of Lake Forest, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, Rancho Santa Margarita, and San Juan Capistrano. 

MV residents would need to travel a dozen miles or more to find a “lucky” lottery store which has sold a million dollar winner. The five below are the nearest, and each has sold two winning tickets.

The next Mega Millions jackpot on April 27 is an estimated $88 million, yielding a cash value of about $64,600,000 before taxes.

CLUBHOUSE LIQUOR, 628 CAMINO DE LOS MARES, SAN CLEMENTE 

PHIL’S MOBIL, 1465 S MAIN ST, SANTA ANA

BAYCREST LIQUOR, 333 E 17TH ST, COSTA MESA

7-ELEVEN, 290 S MAIN ST, ORANGE

RANIER PURE WATER, 5015 W EDINGER AVE #D, SANTA ANA

After losing her job, Yvonne Baldelli went to an island off Panama with her boyfriend last September and rented a beachfront residence. She became a missing person two months later after communications with her family ceased.

The case is reminiscent of Mission Viejo’s Leta Cordes who disappeared on the island of St Maarten in 2008. Leta’s husband was a person of interest and arrested, but he was released a few weeks later. She was never found.

Baldelli’s boyfriend, Brian Brimager, is a person of interest according to CBS, which cites police as saying the pair had a violent relationship. Divers were reportedly scheduled to search offshore waters Wednesday. The family has been searching the 2-mile-long Carenero Island [map] and organized another walking search Wednesday.

The boyfriend told police Yvonne left for Costa Rica with another man, but passport records show no departure by the 41-year-old Baldelli. Brian, a 36-year-old former Marine living in San Clemente, came back to the States and married another woman in December.

Police have offered a $3,000 reward for information. Yvonne’s dog is also missing.

A Mission Viejo woman was confronted by a man nude below-the-waist when she returned home from work about 3:30 a.m. Sunday.

Police later arrested a fully nude Robert Cook, 41, at a nearby house near Alicia and Trabuco, on Avenida Topanga [map]. The 6′ tall, 285 lb. man pleaded not guilty to indecent exposure and lewd conduct. A pre-trial hearing is scheduled for May 8.

Robert Kiley Cook was convicted of peeking into an inhabited building in 2010.

Weygan-Allam

After visiting Mission Viejo last month, a Phillipine councilwoman may seek for her City to become a sister city to MV.  Baguio Councilors Philian Louise Weygan-Allam and Elmer Datuin made the proposal last week to their urban community of over 300,000.

During her MV visit, Weygan-Allam looked at Mission Viejo’s Community of Character program and intends to adopt features of the plan. Baguio’s existing Character Program promotes the following 12 monthly attributes: integrity, wisdom, faith, hardwork, camaraderie (bayanihan), flexibility and creativity, honor with responsibility, peace and harmony, close family ties, hospitality, discretion and benevolence. Mission Viejo’s are: perserverance, unity, integrity, service, moral courage, citizenship, fairness, self-control, responsibility, respect, thankfulness and caring.

Weygan-Allam thinks a relationship with Mission Viejo will help the City of Baguio develop qualities necessary to “gain a national and global perspective to challenges through planned cultural, educational, business/trade and humanitarian assistance exchanges,” according to the Baguio Sun Star.

Baguio, located on the north island of Luzon, has already collected six sister cities: Cusco, Peru; Hangzhou, China; Honolulu, U.S.; Kislovodsk, Russia; Taebek City, South Korea; Vaughan, Ontario, Canada.

Mission Viejo and the five adjacent communities were formed as contract cities based on a philosophy of limited government. None have broadened that scope to include international cultural affairs in the form of sister cities. MV’s City Hall has not announced any contact with Baguio on the subject of sisterhood.