Updated on Sept. 4, 2:50 p.m.: The Long Beach Police Department learned on Sept. 4 that Davontay Clark was found safe and unharmed on Aug. 30, at a medical facility in the City of Los Angeles.
An autistic man who is nonverbal has been missing for over a week. Twenty-nine-year-old Davontay Clark went missing from his home in the 1700 block of Long Beach Boulevard on Aug. 22, near the Metro station on Pacific Coast Highway.
Clark left home on foot, with no access to a car or cell phone, and does not have a tracking device.
Clark is described as a Black man, standing 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighing 169 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a black Puma shirt, camouflage pants and black Puma shoes.
Since 2020, Clark has been reported missing seven times, according to reports by the Long Beach Police Department (LBPD). But he has never been missing for this long before. Out of the six previous times he’s been reported missing, in five of those cases he was found either the same day he went missing, or the day after.
The one exception was in September 2021, when he was taken to a medical facility as a John Doe the same day he left his home, and it took the LBPD 11 days to learn his whereabouts.
According to a statement by the police, Clark knows how to use trains and buses. When he went missing in the past, he was sometimes found in other cities, such as San Pedro and Torrance.
Elopement, also known as wandering, is an urge some autistic individuals have which causes them to try to leave or escape safe places or people, often putting them in danger.
According to a 2017 report by the National Autism Association, 808 people with autism spectrum disorder were reported missing to police after eloping/wandering from 2011 to 2016, and in 139 of those cases the missing person died. The cause of death in most of these cases was drowning (71%), followed by being hit by a vehicle (18%) or train (4%).
A 2009 study of autistic adults living in an institution found that 34% “exhibited elopement behavior.”
Anyone with information regarding Clark’s whereabouts is urged to call the LBPD Missing Persons Detail at 562-570-7246 or dispatch at 562-435-6711. Tipsters who prefer to remain anonymous can call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477 or visit lacrimestoppers.org.