Family of missing Simi Valley man suspects foul play as search continues 1 year later

Amy Powell Image
Sunday, August 11, 2019
Search for missing man Matthew Weaver continues 1 year later
The family of Matthew Weaver, the 21-year-old man who went missing one year ago, has not stopped looking for him but they do suspect foul play.

MALIBU, Calif. (KABC) -- The family of Matthew Weaver, the 21-year-old man who went missing one year ago, has not stopped looking for him, but they do suspect foul play.

Weaver's family held a candlelight vigil Saturday night to mark the anniversary of his disappearance. He went missing last August. His car was found abandoned about a mile and a half off Saddle Peak Road above Malibu but he was never found.

In January, Matthew's family released almost 800 aerial photographs taken by a drone high above the Santa Monica Mountain wilderness area.

The high-resolution images tied to GPS locations helped the family recover his baseball cap and T-shirt.

RELATED: Family of missing man Matthew Weaver asking for public's help finding him

But now, they're fearing the worst.

"I think someone hurt him. Whether it be someone murdered him, maybe wrong place wrong time. I think that someone did," said his sister Catherine Weaver-Ferrall.

The family believes someone has information that will help them discover what happened to Matthew.

MORE: $50,000 reward offered for information leading to missing man last seen in Simi Valley

They're offering a $50,000 reward to information leading to his whereabouts.

"We're asking anybody and everybody," said Matthew's uncle, James Weaver. "The police have been wonderful, search and rescue, they have done everything. Problem is we don't have any new leads or new information. So we're grasping at anything."

If you'd like to take a look at the 797 photos, they are all posted here.